
YOUNG AMERICANS 
FROM MANY LANDS 


ANNE MERRIMAN PECK 

AND 


ENID JOHNSON 












Class JPZ7 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSm 

































YOUNG AMERICANS 
from MANY LANDS 








































































































































































































































































































































































































































Merrily the yellow flames leaped up 






YOUNG AMERICANS 

FROM MANY LANDS 


By 

ANNE MERRIMAN PECK 

and 

ENID JOHNSON 



JUNIOR PRESS BOOKS 

alberTXwhitman 

i CO 
CHICAGO 
1935 























Copyright, 1935, by 
ALBERT WHITMAN & CO. 




Printed in U. S. A. 


NOV 11 !?35 

©ci A 


8821 5 


INTRODUCTION 


While making a very extensive tour throughout 
the United States by automobile, train, and bus, the 
authors conceived the idea for Young Americans 
prom Many Lands. 

They became keenly interested in the variety of 
child life to be found in this country, due to the 
preservation of languages and customs by many na¬ 
tional groups who are at the same time taking their 
part in American life. Special examples of this are 
the Spanish group in New Mexico, the French group 
in Louisiana, and the Chinese group in San Fran¬ 
cisco. 

Both Miss Peck and Miss Johnson are New York¬ 
ers of long standing. They are well acquainted with 
the colorful foreign quarters of the city where so 
many nationalities still maintain their original cus¬ 
toms, languages, festivals, and foods. 

It is the hope of both authors and publishers that 
Young Americans from Many Lands will show 
children of long-standing American background how 
many races go to make up their America. These 
children of foreign heritage have a background to be 
proud of, and they have something to contribute to 
American life. 




Anne Merriman Peck and Enid Johnson have col¬ 
laborated on two previous books— Wings Over Hol¬ 
land and Roundabout America. Miss Peck has also 
written Storybook Europe, Roundabout Europe, 
Young Germany, and Young Mexico. Miss Peck was 
an artist and illustrator before she began to write, 
and she always illustrates her own books. 

The Publishers. 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 


Tony, Portuguese Fisher Boy of Cape Cod. 21 

New Moon of Chinatown. 54 

Jan and Marenka, Young Czechs. 84 

Lupita and Pedro of New Mexico. 112 

Gemma of Little Italy. 134 

Nils, Swedish Farm Boy. 164 

Rene and Madelaine of Louisiana. 196 

Gypsy Nura. 220 

Avrahm of the East Side. 


248 


















ILLUSTRATIONS IN COLOR 


PAGE 

Merrily the yellow flames leaped up.Frontispiece 

The men were on board making final prepara¬ 
tions . 20 

New Moon took their gift and let it down over 

the balcony. 78 and 79 

Each pair held big red handkerchiefs between 

them . 97 

Little figures stood near the Santo Nino. 123 

How bright the street was during the 

festival. 148 and 149 

Nils’ car shot down towards the earth. 193 

Up it came with a wriggling crab inside. 207 

Suddenly Nura jumped up and began to 

dance. 226 and 227 

What a beautiful city it was!. 269 



























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YOUNG AMERICANS 
from MANY LANDS 




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The men were on board making final preparations 














































TONY 

PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY OF 
CAPE COD 

T HE bright spring sunshine made 
sparkles of light across the blue wa¬ 
ter of the harbor. The salty air 
smelled of fish and tar. Tony came racing 
down to the beach in high spirits, for he 
knew that the long cold winter was over at 
last. 


21 



22 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


All along the water front he saw signs of 
spring. Here came a group of fishermen 
bringing their nets, freshly tarred, which 
had been drying in the sun. On one of the 
docks some men were at work painting long 
poles with copper paint. 

“Hello,” said Tony, “going to put new 
poles in the weirs?” 

“Yep,” answered one of the men, “there’s 
a boatload of them going out now.” 

Tony saw a heavy boat chugging out into 
the harbor toward a big circle of poles. The 
poles held nets which were set in the harbor 
all summer to catch fish. These were called 
weirs. The men were going to replace the 
old poles which had been rotted by a winter 
in the sea water, with new ones. 

“ ’Bout time to start the trap fishing,” said 
one of the men. “Herring’s beginning to 
come.” 

“Queer how the herring always come back 
the same time in the spring,” said Tony. 

“Fish is wise,” answered one of the fisher¬ 
man. “They got their ways of doing things 
just like humans.” 

Tony looked down on the beach and saw 
his big brother Joe overhauling his sailboat. 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


23 


He was giving it a fresh coat of paint for 
the summer season. Joe made money in the 
summer by taking parties of visitors out 
sailing. 

“Hi, Tony, come and help me,” called a 
voice. 

Tony saw his father busy on a heavy boat. 
So with a whoop he scampered down to the 
beach and went to work, helping his father 
clean and oil the gasoline engine. Tony was 
eleven, but already he could run the engine 
as well as his father. 

Tony’s family were Portuguese, as were 
most of the men whom he had been watching 
on the dock. They were very striking with 
their dark skin and eyes and thick black 
hair. But otherwise they seemed just like 
their American neighbors, because they had 
always lived here in Provincetown on the tip 
of Cape Cod. 

When the boat was in order Tony said, 
“Let me take her out, Pa, and see how she 
runs.” 

Together they pushed the boat into the 
water, Tony got in, and started the engine 
with a great splutter and roar. The boat 
went flying out into the harbor, the salt 




24 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


spray dashing in Tony’s face. He passed 
the wharves where big fishing smacks were 
moored, one of them his father’s. On he 
went toward the lighthouse on the end of 
the long white strip of sand dunes. Beyond 
that lighthouse was the open sea. 

Suddenly on the horizon Tony saw a curve 
of spray shoot up. “Hi, there goes a whale,” 
he thought. “He’s looking for the herring 
too.” Tony knew that every spring whales 
swam in near the shore to feed on fish. Long 
ago the whaling fleet had sailed from Prov- 
incetown every year to far-off waters where 
whales could be caught. But to Tony and his 
friends whaling was just a story of adven¬ 
ture which they sometimes heard from old 
Yankee sailormen in the town. 

Tony turned the boat toward shore and 
saw his town lying in the curve of the har¬ 
bor. First the wharves and fishing boats, 
then a jumble of roof tops and church tow¬ 
ers, and on the hill back of them, a tall mon¬ 
ument. This had been built in memory of 
the Pilgrim Fathers, for this was the place 
where they had first landed, even before 
they found Plymouth. Tony was proud of 
the monument, and felt just as American 



TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


25 


as his friends whose great-great-great¬ 
grandfathers had settled on Cape Cod in the 
early days. Tony’s ancestors, like most of 
the Portuguese who had come to Cape Cod, 
were seafaring folk. So it was no wonder 
that Tony loved the sea. 

When he reached the shore Tony tied the 
boat to the end of a long wharf. It was time 
for dinner, so he crossed the street above the 
beach and went up a winding lane. On both 
sides of the lane small white houses with 
peaked roofs were huddled close together, 
each with a dooryard and picket fence 
around it. Tony opened his gate and went 
up the path to the house. 

The kitchen, into which he stepped, 
seemed to be overflowing with children, all 
chattering gaily and noisily. Their mother 
stood at the stove frying fish for dinner. 

Joe came in carrying a pail. “Here’s a 
mess of clams, Ma,” he said. “Make us a 
chowder for supper.” 

“All right, Joe, you shall have a good 
chowder,” said Mother. 

She brought the fish and a dish of boiled 
potatoes to the table and all the children 
took their places. And what a family! Big 




26 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


sister Anna held little Maria, two years old, 
on her lap. Between the youngest and oldest 
were Catharine, nine years old, and Rose, 
seven, as well as Tony and Joe. Father, too, 
came in for dinner. Most days he went out 
in his big boat early in the morning with 
several companions, to fish in the ocean. But 
today he was busy getting the boats in or¬ 
der. 

Father told them that Uncle Victor, who 
owned a big two-masted fishing smack, was 
planning to start south next day to the Vir¬ 
ginia coast. He and the men who shared the 
trip with him would fish for mackerel, sail¬ 
ing back up the coast as the schools of fish 
came northward. They would be gone for 
weeks, taking their catch in to various ports 
to sell. Uncle Victor made that trip every 
spring. 

“Gee, I’d like to go with Uncle Victor some 
time,” said Tony. 

“Oh, who wants to be a fisherman,” said 
Joe. “There’s no money in that. Vm going 
to get a job in a garage next winter, in some 
town away from here. Gee, I’d hate to leave 
the sea though.” 

“Well anyway,” said Tony, “I’ll stay and 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


27 


fish with you, Pa. I would like to anyway.” 

“That’s good,” answered his father. 
“Once you like the sea and the fishing, you 
want to stay with it always.” 

The next morning, which was Sunday, 
Tony and his pals, Manuel and Rafael, were 
down on the wharf early to see Uncle Vic¬ 
tor’s boat leave. The men were on board 
making final preparations. The boat looked 
fine and trim, all cleaned up for the start. 
The big nets were coiled up in their place 
and the dories, or rowboats, were piled on 
the deck. There were sails, but they would 
be used only if the engine broke down. When 
all was ready Uncle Victor started the en¬ 
gine and the boat moved slowly away from 
the wharf. 

“Good-bye! Good luck!” shouted the boys 
in chorus. 

The church bells in the village were ring¬ 
ing for Sunday service and it seemed as 
though they, too, were saying farewell to 
Uncle Victor and his comrades. The boat 
sailed out into the harbor, grew smaller and 
smaller as it approached the lighthouse, 
rounded the point, and disappeared in the 
wide ocean. 




28 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Now there is nothing to do until the sum¬ 
mer people come,” said Manuel discontent¬ 
edly. 

“You’d better do something at school or 
you won’t pass,” Tony said teasingly. 

The boys found plenty to occupy their 
time, however. There was school, where the 
Portuguese and American children worked 
at lessons together. And on Saturdays many 
of the boys helped the fishermen on the 
wharves. As it grew warmer they went for 
a swim in the harbor every afternoon. 

Summer was coming, for the big trees in 
the lanes put out green leaves, and lilacs 
and apple trees blossomed in the dooryards. 
The people who lived on the street by the 
beach were painting the sheds on their small 
docks to rent to artists for studios. Many 
artists spent the summer in Tony’s town, for 
they liked to paint the boats and fishermen, 
or the little houses with their yards full of 
flowers. 

June came, and with it the end of school. 
Uncle Victor’s boat returned from the South, 
the men very much pleased with their suc¬ 
cessful trip. Every day the excursion boat 
came from Boston bringing summer visitors 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


29 


and artists. Then the boys knew that sum¬ 
mer had really arrived. 

Tony’s Grandfather Avila rented his shed 
studio, on the beach back of his house, to 
an artist from Boston. The children saw her 
out in the town with the other artists, paint¬ 
ing on the beach or in the back streets. 

One day she sat down to paint in the lane 
where Tony’s family lived. Rose sat on the 
doorstep of the house to watch her. Soon 
she was so curious to see what the artist was 
doing that she came to look over her shoul¬ 
der. 

“Why, that’s our house!” she said. 

“Yes, and there you are on the doorstep,” 
said the artist, pointing to a blob of color. 
It didn’t look like a little girl to Rose, but 
she smiled politely. 

“You’re the lady that lives in my grand¬ 
pa’s studio,” she said. 

“Oh, are you Mr. Avila’s granddaughter? 
How would you like to come to the studio to 
pose for me? You’d make a nice picture,” 
said the artist, looking at Rose’s little brown 
face half hidden in her long black hair. 

“Me?” asked Rose. “What must I do?” 

“Just sit still a little while every day so 




SO YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


that I can paint you,” said the artist. “I’ll 
pay you for it.” 

“Wait till I ask Ma,” said Rose. She ran 
into the house. 

“Ma, what do you think,” she exclaimed. 
“The lady in Grandpa’s studio wants to paint 
my picture. She’ll pay me money for it.” 

Mother was pleased. “You go, Rosie,” she 
said. “We can use the money. Pa doesn’t 
get much for his fish now.” 

So every day Rose went to the studio by 
the harbor and sat very still while the artist 
painted her picture. It was not easy to sit 
still so long, either. But each time Rose car¬ 
ried home fifty cents to Mother, who saved 
it to buy the new shoes and sweater Rose 
needed. 

Now that school was out Tony, Manuel, 
and Rafael had regular jobs helping the 
men split and clean the fish before they 
were packed in ice and sent away to city 
markets. Then they were free to play. They 
went swimming or dug clams, and spent a 
great deal of time out in the harbor in the 
boats. 

Tony and the other Portuguese boys took 
to the water like fish. When the boat ar- 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


31 


rived from Boston each day, they rowed out 
to it and waited for the passengers to throw 
pennies. Then they dived overboard into the 
clear water and found the money on the 
sandy bottom. 

One day Tony rowed out beside the steam¬ 
er and stood up in the boat, strong and 
brown, flashing a grin at the passengers. 
“Hello,” he called. One of the men on board 
threw a nickel and over went Tony, diving 
straight to the bottom after it. When he was 
back in the boat he looked up and saw a pale 
blond boy watching him from the deck. 

“Good work,” called the boy. 

“He looks like a nice guy, but sort of 
sick,” thought Tony. 

Next morning Tony was on the beach dig¬ 
ging clams while the tide was out. He walked 
about in his boots on the wet sand flats, 
looking for air bubbles which showed where 
clams were hidden. When he saw a bubble 
he raked up the sand with a small rake, 
pulled out the clam and dropped it into his 
pail. Overhead the sea gulls swooped, utter¬ 
ing sharp cries, as though they would like to 
snatch the clams from him. 

Pretty soon Tony looked out in the harbor 




32 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


and saw a boy in a canoe, bobbing around 
in the waves. The wind was blowing hard, 
so that the harbor water was very rough 
and choppy. The boy was trying to keep the 
canoe headed into the waves. 

“What that guy doesn’t know about a 
canoe would fill a book,” said Tony to him¬ 
self. He watched the boy struggling for a 
few minutes. “If he doesn’t watch out he’ll 
capsize,” thought Tony. “Hi,” he shouted, 
“look out!” 

Just then the canoe dived into the trough 
of a big wave and was overturned. The boy 
went under, but came up in a minute and 
clung to the capsized canoe. Tony dashed 
down the beach where a rowboat was tied to 
a dock. He jumped in, untied it, and rowed 
as hard as he could toward the boy. 

“Hold on, I’m coming,” he shouted as he 
came near. He rowed close to the canoe and 
called, “Grab this boat and get in.” 

The boy let go his hold on the canoe, strug¬ 
gled frantically in the water, managed to 
catch the edge of the rowboat. Tony held it 
as steady as he could while the other boy 
pulled himself up and tumbled into the bot¬ 
tom of the boat, gasping and shivering. 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


33 


“Gee, that was too bad,” said Tony. “It 
was too rough for you to go out in that light 
canoe.” 

He began to row toward the shore. 

“The canoe!” gasped the boy. 

“I’ll get some of the fellows to help me 
bring it in,” Tony said. 

When they reached the shore, Tony told 
the boy to sit in the sun and get dry while 
he went for the canoe. Rafael and Manuel 
had come running down to see what was 
happening. 

“Help me get the canoe,” called Tony. 

The three boys rowed out after the canoe, 
captured it, turned it right side up, and came 
back, Rafael holding it behind the rowboat. 

“Here you are,” called Tony, “but we 
couldn’t find the paddle.” 

The brown Portuguese boys stood staring 
at the strange boy rather anxiously. He was 
getting dry, and although he was still white 
and shivering, he looked up with a grin at 
his rescuers. 

“It was swell of you fellows to help me,” 
he said. “I thought I could manage a canoe, 
but I’m not used to such rough water.” 

“Aw, that’s all right,” said Tony. “But 




34 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


you ought to have put some ballast in the 
bottom. Canoes are tricky, you know. Say, 
you’re the kid I saw on the steamer yester¬ 
day, aren’t you?” he went on. 

“Yes, and I saw you diving for pennies. 
Wish I could dive like that.” 

“Stick around with us and we’ll teach 
you,” said Tony. 

“What’s your name?” Manuel wanted to 
know. 

“Roger.” 

“Mine’s Manuel, that’s Rafael, and Tony 
is the one who pulled you out of the water.” 

“Come to the beach tomorrow,” said Ra¬ 
fael. 

“I sure will,” said Roger. “Now I ought 
to go home. My mother will be worried.” 

“Where do you live?” asked Tony. 

“My father has taken a cottage down that 
way, just below the town.” 

“I’ll row you there,” offered Tony, “and 
we’ll tow the canoe.” 

Roger admired the strong, easy way Tony 
managed the heavy boat in the rough water 
as they rowed toward his home. 

“You and the other two are Portuguese, 
aren’t you?” he asked. 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


35 


“Yep,” said Tony. 

“Let’s hear you talk Portuguese.” 

“I can’t talk Portuguese, but you ought to 
hear my grandpa and grandma. Pa and Ma 
talk Portuguese to them, too, but not to us 
kids.” 

“Were you born in this country?” asked 
Roger. 

“Sure I was, and my ma and pa too. It’s 
my grandpa and grandma that are real 
Portuguese.” 

“Where did they come from?” asked 
Roger. 

“From some islands called the Azores,” 
answered Tony. “I saw them on a map once 
at school.” 

“I thought Portuguese people came from 
Portugal,” said Roger. 

“Some did come from Portugal,” answered 
Tony. “They’re the ‘Lisbons,’ but the Azores 
belong to the Portuguese too. Where do you 
live?” he went on, thinking it was his turn 
to ask questions. 

“I live in Boston.” 

“What’s it like, living in a city?” Tony 
asked. 

“Not so nice as Provincetown. I get tired 




36 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


of streets and noise. Before this we’ve al¬ 
ways spent the summer at a beach near Bos¬ 
ton, but I like this lots better.” 

“What does your pa do for a living’?” Tony 
asked. 

“He’s a professor in a college in Boston. 
But I don’t want to be a teacher when I’m 
grown up. I’d rather be a fisherman. I can 
row pretty well, and swim, but I was sick 
last winter, so now I’m not so strong.” 

“Well, you’ll get strong swimming with 
us,” said Tony. 

When they reached Roger’s cottage Tony 
ran the boat up on the beach and the two 
boys jumped out. A tall man who looked 
kind and jolly was sitting on the porch. He 
came to meet them. 

“What has happened, Roger?” he asked. 

“Oh, Dad, I’m so sorry, but I was crazy 
to get on the water, so I took the canoe out. 
Then it was so rough in the harbor that it 
capsized and Tony came and rescued me.” 

“Well, Tony, I’m very grateful to you,” 
said Roger’s father, shaking his hand just 
as though he were a man. “Roger hasn’t had 
much practice on the water, but maybe you’ll 
help him.” 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


37 


“I’m going to swim and dive with Tony 
this summer,” said Roger eagerly. 

“That’s good,” said his father. “Tony, I 
expect you to make a good seaman of him. 
By the way,” he went on, “do you know any¬ 
one who has a sailboat? We all like sailing 
very much and I want to hire someone to 
take us out sometimes.” 

Tony grinned. “My brother Joe has a 
swell boat and he sails it just fine.” 

“Well, you ask him about it. I’m coming 
into the village this evening and I’d like to 
arrange it with him. Where do you live?” 

Tony gave him directions and then said 
good-bye to his new friends. He rowed back 
to the beach as fast as he could and hurried 
to tell Joe the good news that there was a 
job for him. 

That evening the Portuguese families who 
lived in Tony’s lane were all out in the door- 
yards enjoying the cool air. As the Boston 
family came up the lane they heard the soft 
thick sound of Portuguese talk, and the 
laughter of boys and girls. In Tony’s yard 
all the family were sitting on the grass while 
Joe played his accordion and sang Portu¬ 
guese songs. 




38 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Roger, with his father and mother and 
sister Betty, stood by the fence listening. 
When Joe stopped singing they clapped soft¬ 
ly. Tony ran to open the gate for them, 
beaming with pride as he introduced his new 
friends to his family. Roger’s father made 
the arrangement for Joe to take them out, 
and then asked him to sing some more for 
them. 

Often after that Tony and Catharine were 
asked to go along when Roger’s family went 
sailing with Joe. Catharine was the same 
age as Betty, but she was rather shy of the 
little city girl. Betty soon made friends, 
however, with Catharine and the other Port¬ 
uguese girls. She went swimming with them 
and played with them in the village. 

Roger spent most of his time on the beach 
with the town boys. They rowed out and 
taught him to dive from the boats as they 
did. Each day Roger grew stronger and 
browner. He liked to watch the fishermen 
bring in the catch in the morning. To the 
Portuguese boys fishing was just ordinary 
work, but Roger thought it was very inter¬ 
esting. He wanted to know how it was done. 

“Don’t you ever go out, Tony?” he asked. 



TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


“No, they go too early, and besides the 
men don’t want kids getting in their way.” 

“Gee, I’d like to see it, though,” said 
Roger. 

“I guess we could go. My grandpa’s fore¬ 
man of one of the fish companies. I’ll ask 
him.” 

Grandpa Avila said, “Sure, I’ll fix it,” 
when the boys asked him, and he arranged 
for them to go in one of the boats the next 
morning. 

Tony asked Roger to spend the night at 
his house, so they would be together for the 
start at dawn. The whole family was excited 
at having Roger stay with them. Tony’s 
mother made a Portuguese fish dish for sup¬ 
per called vinha de alhos. It was made by 
soaking the fish a long time in vinegar and 
spices, then frying it. Roger had never tast¬ 
ed anything like it, and thought it was won¬ 
derful. He enjoyed being with the big, mer¬ 
ry Portuguese family. 

Tony’s mother woke the boys in the dark 
before dawn, and gave them each a chunk 
of bread with linguisa, a spicy Portuguese 
sausage. They stumbled down through the 
dark village to the wharves, where the fish- 




40 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


ermen were stalking around in their high 
boots, sleepy and silent. They showed the 
boys where to sit in one of the boats so that 
they would not be in the way, and finally the 
fleet started out from the wharves. Tony 
and Roger huddled down, glad of their 
sweaters, as their boat rushed through the 
cold water. 

When they reached the weirs the fisher¬ 
men sprang into action, shouting in Portu¬ 
guese as they let down the big buckets into 
the nets, and hauling them up full of slip¬ 
pery, wriggling fish. Suddenly a great com¬ 
motion began down in the water. “It's a 
horse mackerel,” shouted one of the men. 
“Give me the gaff.” He sprang into the bow 
of the boat with the gaff, a sort of spear, 
which he thrust into the fish’s gills while 
another man whacked it on the head with a 
hammer. What a time they had dragging 
the huge fish into the boat! Roger wanted 
to help, but Tony held him back, for he 
knew the men would be angry if they inter¬ 
fered. 

The sun came up over the quiet harbor as 
they started for the shore. By the time they 
reached the dock Tony and Roger were so 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


41 


hungry they felt hollow inside. Grandpa 
Avila was on the dock. 

“Well, boys, how you like it?” he asked. 

“It was fine, Mr. Avila. Thank you for 
letting us go,” exclaimed Roger. 

“Come on, Roger, Grandma will give us 
some breakfast,” said Tony. They hurried 
off to Grandpa Avila’s little white house with 
the blue shutters. Grandma Avila knew just 
how hungry they were, and soon they sat 
right down to big plates of bacon and eggs. 
Then she began frying some balls of dough, 
something like doughnuts. 

“What’s that?” Roger wanted to know. 

“The Portuguese name is masa frita,” said 
Grandma Avila. “It’s really fried bread. 
Wait till I put some sugar on these and then 
see if you don’t like them. All the children 
love masa frita.” 

“They’re good, Grandma, the best you ever 
made,” said Tony. 

“I think they’re wonderful,” said Roger, 
taking a second. “Did you learn to make 
these in the Azores, Grandma Avila?” , 

Grandma laughed. “My mother used to 
make them for us children when she had 
money enough to buy flour, and when I grew 




42 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


old enough she showed me just how to do it. 
I’ve been making them ever since for all 
my children, and now for my grandchil¬ 
dren.” 

“She raised the whole family on masa 
frita,” said Grandpa, who had just come in. 
He took a crisp brown ball and sat down in 
his rocking chair, munching it. 

“Was it a long time ago that you came 
here?” asked Roger. 

“Fifty years,” said Grandpa. “I came 
first, then she. We got married and raised a 
big family.” 

“But why did you come to this country?” 
Roger wanted to know. 

Grandma said, “We were all so poor in the 
islands, you see. The men did some fishing 
and they grew corn and potatoes and a few 
other things. But our island was steep and 
rocky, not much room for gardens. We lived 
in small stone houses, many children in one 
room. The sea was always there, all around 
us, and the men were good fishermen and 
sailors. So when whaling ships stopped at 
the islands on their voyages, some of the 
boys and young men went away with them 
as cabin boys and sailors. They were Ameri- 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


4S 


can whaling ships which came from New 
Bedford or Cape Cod. So that was how Port¬ 
uguese men first came to Provincetown. 
They were used to ships and fishing, so they 
went on living the same way here.” 

“Did you come on a whaling ship?” asked 
Roger. 

“No,” said Grandma. “After a while some 
of the men came back and told us that we 
could live better in America. So then fam¬ 
ilies decided to leave the islands. When trad¬ 
ing ships of Cape Cod stopped at the islands, 
they picked us up and brought us here. 
That’s how I came, and Grandpa too. We 
liked our new homes. There was more land 
for gardens. There were big trees and nice 
little houses. Our children could be educat¬ 
ed, and they could have good food and 
clothes because the men made more money 
with the fishing.” 

“Yes,” put in Grandpa, “I had good work 
here. I went with the fishing fleet to the 
Grand Banks many years. Dangerous it 
was, every year some wrecks, some men 
drowned. But ’twas good fishing—I made 
money. When I come back I buy barrels of 
flour and molasses for the family. Pretty 




44 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


soon I buy this house. Every year we dried 
codfish and herring. Sell it good in the 
cities. Fishing was good business then, not 
any more.” 

“It must have been exciting, fishing off 
the Grand Banks,” exclaimed Roger. 

“Yes,” said Grandma, “but think of the 
poor wives and children when their men 
were shipwrecked.” 

“Well, I’m going to have a big boat like 
Uncle Victor’s and go fishing for mackerel,” 
said Tony. “I bet I’ll make some money.” 

“Take me along, Tony,” laughed Roger. 

When the boys said good-bye to Grandma 
Avila she gave Roger a basket of masa frita 
to take home to his mother and sister. 
“Bring your sister to see me next time you 
come, boy,” she said. 

“Thanks, Grandma Avila, you bet I will,” 
said Roger. 

Generally the girls were not invited to 
share the boys’ occupations, but sometimes 
they played together on the beach. One day 
when they were swimming together Catha¬ 
rine said, “We’ve never been to the dunes 
with Roger and Betty. It’s lots of fun, Bet¬ 
ty.” 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


45 


‘‘Let’s go tomorrow,” said Tony. “Manuel 
and Rafael can come too. We’ll take lunch 
and stay all day.” 

“And we’ll look for beach plums,” said 
Catharine. “If they are ripe we’ll get some 
for our mothers to make into jelly, Betty.” 

They set out next morning by a sandy track 
through a grove of low pines back of the 
town. Before long the pines were only as big 
as bushes and there were large patches of 
beach plum bushes. The air smelled deli¬ 
ciously of pine and bayberry. The children 
picked the plums as they walked along. The 
bushes grew thinner and farther apart, and 
then they saw the dunes, yellow hills of sand 
rising before them like crested waves. 

“Now comes the fun,” shouted Tony, and 
started sliding and leaping down the slope 
with sand over his ankles. All the rest raced 
after him to the bottom, where they were in 
a bowl surrounded by sand walls. Up they 
went, slipping backward at every step. 

At the top of the slope they found more 
hills and valleys of sand stretching beyond 
them. They plowed along, hot and breath¬ 
less, sliding down slopes and scrambling up 
them. At last, from a high crest, they saw 




46 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the deep blue line of the sea, beyond the 
farthest yellow wave of sand. 

“Only a little way now,” cried Tony, and 
led them all on down the slopes and up the 
hills until they came to the last dune and the 
beach, where big waves were breaking in 
foam. 

In no time they were in their bathing suits 
and splashing in the waves. They raced and 
frolicked until someone called, “What about 
food?” Then out they ran and sat down in 
the sand with the lunch boxes. All afternoon 
they played and swam. When it was time to 
start home they clambered up to the top of 
the dunes. But there, feeling frisky in the 
cool, damp air, they decided to have a game 
of hide-and-seek before going further. 

“You’re It, Catharine,” shouted Rafael. 
The boys ran off over the crest of a dune and 
Betty ran the other way, through a patch of 
pine bushes and down into a hollow. “They’ll 
have to look hard for me,” she thought, and 
scrambled up and over another dune. She 
lay down under a bush and waited to hear 
Catharine coming after her. 

Pretty soon she noticed streamers of fog 
drifting across the dunes. How still it was, 



TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


47 


and how lonely! “I’d better go back,” she 
thought, and clambered up to the top of the 
dune. She looked into the hollow beyond, but 
there was not a footprint in the soft sand. 
She decided that she must have come the 
other way, and hurried down, and up again 
to the next crest. 

That hollow looked just like the other, and 
there were still no traces of steps. Then she 
ran through a patch of bushes and tried an¬ 
other dune. Not a sign of the other children 
and no voices! Only the sea gulls crying and 
the fog drifting in. Betty was frightened. 
She began running up and down the slopes 
calling, until she was breathless, and she 
sank down in the sand, thinking sadly, “I’m 
lost. I’ll never get out.” 

Meanwhile Catharine had counted to a 
hundred and started off down a slope where 
footprints crisscrossed in every direction. 
She found first one boy, then another, and 
chased them all back to the place where they 
had left the baskets. 

“Betty isn’t here,” she said. “Didn’t she 
go with you?” 

“No,” said the boys, “she went the other 
way.” 




48 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Oh, dear,” exclaimed Catharine. “Betty 
doesn’t know the dunes. She could get lost. 
And look at the fog.” It was getting thicker 
and thicker. 

“Now, see here,” said Tony. “Rafael and 
Manuel know all the dunes as well as I do. 
They can go one way and Roger and I will 
go the other. You stay here. The first fellow 
that finds Betty, holler.” 

Off they went and Catharine sat alone, 
getting more anxious every minute. Soon 
Rafael and Manuel came back, reporting no 
signs of Betty. They all sat solemnly, wait¬ 
ing for a call. It seemed a long, long time 
before they heard a loud “coo-oo-ee-e,” and 
there was Tony, coming over the crest of the 
dune in the mist. He was pulling Betty up 
the slope while Roger pushed her from be¬ 
hind. Catharine rushed to meet them and 
hugged Betty tight. 

“Oh, dear, it was so lonely,” sobbed Betty. 
“I thought I was going to starve to death.” 

“Poor Betty, no wonder you were scared,” 
said Catharine. “The dunes all look alike if 
you don’t know them.” 

“She sure had got a long way off,” said 
Tony. 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


49 


The children gathered up the baskets and 
started home. The fog was so thick that they 
could hardly see ahead of them. The Portu¬ 
guese boys went first, for they knew which 
direction to take, even though they couldn’t 
see. At last they were back in the village, 
where they found an anxious father and 
mother looking for Betty and Roger. 

So the summer flew by with plenty of fun, 
and before long the time had come when 
Betty and Roger would have to go back to 
Boston. The American and Portuguese fami¬ 
lies had become fast friends. The “artist 
lady,” as the children called her, who lived in 
Grandpa Avila’s studio, had become a friend, 
too. She often went on picnics with the chil¬ 
dren. She had painted a sketch of Tony 
working on a boat, which she gave to his 
mother. It hung on the kitchen wall, and 
Mother showed it proudly to everyone who 
came in. 

Now it was the last day before Betty and 
Roger were to leave. Early in the morning 
they came to Tony’s house with an invita¬ 
tion. 

“We’re going to have a supper picnic 
at the ocean beach,” said Betty. “It will be 




50 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the very last party, and Mother wants Tony 
and Catharine and Rose to come.” 

“Me, too?” asked little Rose. “Oh, goody!” 

“And, Tony, we do want Joe to come and 
bring his accordion, so we can have some 
Portuguese songs for this last party. Would 
he, do you think?” 

“Sure, he’d like it,” said Tony. 

“The Artist Lady is coming, too,” added 
Betty. 

“Oh, it’s going to be a wonderful picnic,” 
cried Catharine. 

Roger’s father had a car, into which the 
whole family managed to squeeze them¬ 
selves, for the ocean beach by the lighthouse 
was some miles away. When they arrived, 
Roger’s father said, “Come on, fellows, we’re 
going to build a big fire.” 

The boys and girls ran up and down the 
beach collecting driftwood, and soon they 
had a great blazing fire. They sat around 
it while Roger’s mother and the Artist Lady 
unpacked the picnic baskets. What a feast 
it was! There were piles of sandwiches and 
fruit and cold fried chicken and hot dogs to 
roast over the fire, and many bottles of pop 
and ginger ale. When that was all gone, 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


51 


they toasted marshmallows on sticks, which 
was something 1 new to the Portuguese 
children. 

As it grew dark they built up the fire 
until it blazed high into the sky. On the 
beach the great ocean breakers rolled in 
with a roar, and above them the lighthouse 
sent its broad beam out over the dark sea. 

Then Joe took out his accordion and played 
the merry, simple Portuguese tunes, some 
of them dance tunes, others little songs. All 
the Portuguese children joined in the songs. 

“Play them again, Joe, so we can all learn 
them/' said Roger’s mother. 

So Joe played and sang over and over 
until the Americans could sing the tunes, 
although they could not get the Portuguese 
words. 

“This is the best picnic I ever went to,” 
exclaimed Catharine. 

“And, oh, what a beautiful summer it has 
been,” said Betty. 

“Now let me tell the news,” cried Roger, 
jumping up. “What do you think, kids? 
Father has bought the cottage and we are 
coming back next year and every year!” 

“Hurray, hurray,” shouted Tony and 




52 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Catharine, and taking Roger and Betty by 
the hands, they danced around the fire while 
Joe struck up a tune on the accordion. 

When they had fallen down, breathless, 
in the sand, Roger’s father said, “Now, I 
have a speech to make. Tony, you have 
proved to be a true Portuguese, full of ad¬ 
venture and bravery, like your seafaring 
ancestors, and you have taught Roger to 
swim and dive and handle a boat until he 
could almost pass for a Portuguese, too. 
Twice you’ve rescued my children when they 
got into trouble. So, to show you my appre¬ 
ciation, next summer I am going to give you 
a small sailboat for your own, and Joe shall 
teach you and Roger to sail it.” 

“Oh!” cried Tony, and sat speechless, his 
black eyes shining. 

Roger’s father held out his hand and 
Tony shook it hard. He could find no words 
for his joy, but his kind friend understood. 

Everyone hated to have the picnic and the 
happy evening come to an end. But as it was 
very late by this time, they all gathered up 
their belongings and started back to Prov- 
incetown. 

The next morning all the Portuguese boys 




TONY, PORTUGUESE FISHER BOY 


53 


and girls came to the wharf to see Roger 
and Betty off. The two stood on the deck of 
the steamer waving wildly, as it slipped out 
into the harbor. 

“Till next summer, Tony,” came Roger’s 
voice faintly across the water. 









NEW MOON 
OF CHINATOWN 



W HAT an exciting day this is go¬ 
ing to be,” thought New Moon, 
as she woke up one Saturday 
morning. It was hard to keep her mind on 
shoes and stockings and hair brushing. 
Amah, who had been New Moon’s nurse 
when she was a small girl, came several 
times to call her to breakfast. 

“Where are your thoughts this morning, 
little flower?” she asked. 


54 








NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


55 


“I’m thinking about my piece,” said New 
Moon, laughing. 

No wonder New Moon was in a flutter. 
Although she was only eight, she had been 
chosen to speak a piece at the Chinese school 
before all the children. New Moon and all 
her friends who lived in Chinatown went to 
the American school on week days at nine 
in the morning. 

In the late afternoon, however, and on 
Saturday mornings, they went to the Chi¬ 
nese school. Their fathers and mothers 
wanted the children to learn about their old 
country of China as well as the new land of 
America. So at the Chinese school, the 
little Chinese-Americans were taught the 
language, history, and music of China. 

After breakfast New Moon went running 
down the steps and out into the street. The 
house in which she lived had a balcony 
across the front, painted dark green. Bal¬ 
conies on other houses down the street were 
painted red. The eaves of the houses were 
curved up in the shape of great horns. It 
made the street look like pictures of China. 
Even the lampposts were like tall slender 
temples. It did not seem strange to New 




56 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Moon that there should be such a street in 
the midst of a great American city like San 
Francisco, for she had lived there all her 
life. 

New Moon stopped at the house next door 
where her best friend and cousin, Peach 
Blossom, was waiting to walk to school with 
her. “Hello,” the two girls said to each 
other, and off they went. New Moon pre¬ 
tended that this Saturday was just like any 
other day, although her heart was beating 
with excitement. Soon they were joined by 
Peach Blossom’s brother, Turtle Boy. He 
too was going to recite at the assembly, but 
he acted as if that were nothing to make a 
fuss about. 

Although they had yellow faces and 
almond-shaped eyes, they acted like any 
American children on their way to school, 
and they wore the same kind of clothes. As 
soon as they entered the building where the 
Chinese school was held, however, all their 
American ways seemed to leave them. In¬ 
stead of laughing and talking freely, they 
became very polite and formal to each other. 

This was the way their Chinese teacher 
was training them, in the customs and cour- 



NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


57 


tesies of their people. Peach Blossom, who 
was the same age as New Moon, and two 
years younger than Turtle Boy, was not 
allowed to call her brother by name. She 
must say “my elder brother” when she 
spoke to him, and New Moon must say “my 
elder cousin.” 

As this was exercise day, the children did 
not have formal lessons, but gathered in 
the assembly room. First they sang a Chi¬ 
nese song together. It would have sounded 
strange to us, for the notes the Chinese 
children sing are not like ours. 

After the song New Moon heard her 
name. The great moment had come for her 
to appear on the stage. She looked down 
at the black heads and brown slanting eyes 
of her friends and schoolmates. Suddenly 
they looked like strangers to her. She 
wanted to run and hide. But she looked 
straight ahead and began to say her piece. 

She told the story of the Sleeping Beauty, 
only she used Chinese words instead of 
English ones. That was the best way for 
the children to learn to speak their own 
language well. They told in Chinese the 
stories which they had learned in the Amer- 




58 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


ican school. New Moon told the story so 
well that when she had finished everyone 
clapped. 

Then came Turtle Boy’s turn. But no 
fairy stories for him! He had chosen to tell 
about cowboys and Indians in the days of 
the Wild West. All the children in the audi¬ 
ence liked this story too, especially the boys. 

After school was over, the children walked 
slowly home together. There were so many 
interesting things to see in the streets of 
Chinatown. The shop windows were full of 
beautiful things, carved figures, silks, toys 
and jewelry. Large sheets of red paper with 
wiggly black figures hung on some of the 
walls. These were Chinese newspapers. Men 
and boys stopped in front of them to read 
the news of the day, but instead of reading 
across the page as we do, they read all the 
way down one column, and down the next. 

Most of the younger men were dressed in 
ordinary American clothes, but the older 
men wore loose cotton coats and trousers 
of black or blue. On their feet were soft 
slippers. They wore round, flat hats and 
some of them smoked pipes with very long 
stems. 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


59 


The children tried to read the newspapers 
too. In school they were learning to write 
and understand the Chinese characters, 
which take the place of words. There are 
so many characters in the language that it 
takes a long time to learn to read in Chi¬ 
nese. New Moon and her cousins soon gave 
up trying to read the newspapers, for of 
course there were many characters which 
they did not know at all. 

As it was lunch time, and they were get¬ 
ting hungry, they parted at New Moon’s 
doorstep. 

“Let’s go to the Square this afternoon,” 
said Peach Blossom. 

“All right,” said New Moon. “Good-bye, 
Peach Blossom. Good-bye, Turtle Boy.” 

New Moon went up the steps into her 
house. Inside it looked very much like an 
American home with furniture and rugs, 
but on the walls were beautiful pieces of 
Chinese embroidery framed in teak wood. 
There was a bowl of goldfish on a table, 
and hanging in the window in a gilt cage, 
was New Moon’s beloved canary. 

Amah heard her and came into the room, 
her face wreathed in smiles. New Moon 




60 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


wondered what could have happened to 
make Amah look so pleased. She was sur¬ 
prised to see her father at home, too, be¬ 
cause he never left his shop in the middle 
of the day. 

Then Amah told her the wonderful news. 
While she had been at school saying her 
piece, a new baby brother had come to her 
home! A brother! The dearest wish of a 
little Chinese girl. 

“Oh, may I see him?” begged New Moon. 

Amah led her into the room where her 
mother and the baby were resting. He had 
such a funny little wrinkled face that New 
Moon wanted to laugh and hug him all at 
once. 

“What is his name, Mother?” she asked. 

“We are going to call him Tien-Sung,” 
answered her mother. “When he is a month 
old we will have a christening party to give 
him his name.” 

New Moon knew that Tien-Sung meant 
Heaven-Sent and she thought it was a beau¬ 
tiful name for a baby brother. 

She could hardly wait to tell the great 
news to Peach Blossom. Now at last she 
had a brother too. She ate her lunch as 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


61 


quickly as Amah would serve it, but it is 
hard to eat a Chinese meal quickly. Even 
on such a day Amah served the food with 
all the ceremony which is as much a part 
of the Chinese meal as the food itself. 

All through the lunch New Moon held a 
small bowl of rice in her left hand and a 
pair of chopsticks in her right hand. With 
these she took morsels of food from the 
platters of meat and vegetables in the mid¬ 
dle of the table. After each mouthful of 
meat she ate a bit of rice. New Moon had 
to wait patiently for her father to finish. 
Then she could not leave the table until he 
gave her permission to go. 

But at last she was free to play with her 
friends. Peach Blossom was speechless 
when New Moon told her the wonderful 
news of the baby brother, but Turtle Boy 
said in a grown-up manner, “Your father 
must be pleased to have a son.” 

The three children went along the street 
until they came to Portsmouth Square. This 
was a beautiful little park, right on the edge 
of Chinatown. All around the park was the 
bustle of the great city, but the park was 
a safe and beautiful place to play. 





62 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Usually New Moon and Peach Blossom 
played jacks on the paved sidewalks in the 
park, but today they sat on a bench under 
the trees and talked about the new baby. 
Turtle Boy, however, joined a game of ball 
which was played with a shuttlecock, a small 
ball with feathers stuck in it. The boys 
kicked the ball over their shoulders, then 
tried to send it back again with a kick of 
the heel. They were quick and skillful, but 
it was a difficult game. 

Soon New Moon left her friends, for no 
games were half as interesting as Tien- 
Sung. Indeed, during the next month the 
baby gave her something new to think about 
every day. New Moon was a very busy little 
girl, since she went to two schools. All day 
she talked in English and studied her Amer¬ 
ican lessons. 

Then in the Chinese school she and her 
friends worked hard learning to write the 
Chinese characters which stood for words. 
They were traced through tissue paper with 
a brush and Chinese ink. But after school 
it was fun for New Moon to plan with her 
mother for the great celebration soon to 
be held for Tien-Sung. 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


63 


One afternoon, a few days before the 
christening, her mother told her that a 
beautiful present had come from her grand¬ 
father who lived across the great Pacific 
Ocean in China. The present was a very 
special gift for the grandson. 

New Moon stood for a long time before 
the pictures of her grandparents which 
hung on the wall in the parlor. They were 
beautifully dressed, very much alike, in em¬ 
broidered coats and long trousers. She 
wanted to ask a question, but Mother was 
busy putting Tien-Sung to bed, so, like the 
quiet Chinese child she was, New Moon 
waited until Mother was free before she 
spoke. 

“Mother,” she said, “will my august 
grandparents come to our house for the 
christening?” 

“No, New Moon,” answered her mother. 
“Your grandmother has never left the 
courtyard of her home since before I was 
born.” 

New Moon sat down patiently on a stool 
at her mother’s feet. She knew if she waited 
she would hear the story of her mother’s 
beautiful home in a great city in China, 



64 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


where her grandfather was a rich merchant. 

“My father,” said Mother, “was the eldest 
son of my august grandfather. When he, 
my grandfather, went to join his ancestors 
in heaven, my father became head of the 
family. He and my mother moved into the 
great house. All around the house are high 
walls and inside the walls there are court¬ 
yards and gardens, and houses for each of 
the sons, with his family. Flowers bloom in 
the courts and water splashes in the foun¬ 
tains all day. 

“Now my father, who is your august 
grandfather, is a very old man. He is a 
great merchant with a shop larger than 
your own father’s here in this new country. 
He owns many rare and precious things. 
Let us open the package and see what treas¬ 
ure your august grandfather has sent to 
his unworthy grandson.” 

New Moon knew that her mother did not 
really think Tien-Sung unworthy, for she 
loved him dearly. But that is the proper way 
for Chinese people to speak of their own 
children or possessions. 

Mother unwrapped the strange-looking 
package, and from an inside box she took a 



NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


65 


small lion of pure gold. It looked like pic¬ 
tures of lions on temple gates, which New 
Moon had seen in books. She held it in her 
hand, admiring it. Then Mother set it on 
the shelf before the pictures of the grand¬ 
parents. “This will bring good luck to our 
Tien-Sung,” she said. 

Soon the day of the christening arrived. 
The house was decorated with bowls of flow¬ 
ers. On special occasions such as this New 
Moon and her mother wore their pretty 
Chinese clothes. Mother dressed in a satin 
coat and trousers of pale blue, and New 
Moon had a suit just like it of green. Even 
the tiny baby, Heaven-Sent, wore a red silk 
coat, and embroidered cap hung with little 
golden charms called “devil-chasers.” 

Mother’s friends came to congratulate her 
on the “great happiness of a son.” Every¬ 
one was told that his name was Tien-Sung, 
Heaven-Sent. The guests brought red dyed 
eggs for good luck and money wrapped in 
red paper. Ked is a Chinese good luck color, 
and the people believe it will keep off evil 
spirits. Many other gifts were rich and fine, 
such as golden ornaments, rings and brace¬ 
lets much too large for the baby’s tiny 



66 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


hands, toys, and little animals of carved 
jade. Everyone admired the golden lion 
which the grandparents had sent. 

New Moon helped Amah serve the guests 
with pale tea in delicate china bowls. Then 
she passed plates of candied fruits and gin¬ 
ger and cakes. 

In the evening there was a great feast at 
a restaurant, but Heaven-Sent, the hero of 
the party, had to go to bed. 

“Poor little beautiful brother,” said New 
Moon, when she leaned over his crib to say 
good night. “I’m so sorry you can’t go to 
your own party. But I’ll tell you all about it.” 

The tables filled a whole room at the res¬ 
taurant for all the relatives and friends had 
been invited to celebrate. There was a table 
especially for the children, and what a good 
time they did have! The waiters brought 
them one fine thing after another to eat. 
They had chicken birds’ nest soup, and 
chicken with almonds and fried noodles, and 
more soup served from a scooped out melon, 
and more dishes of pork and vegetables, 
fish, and stewed shark fins, until they had 
had so much to eat that they could hardly 
move. 



NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


67 


The room was full of singsong talk, and 
every little while Chinese musicians made 
queer whining music. The children stayed 
just as long as their parents, and it was late 
night when New Moon went to bed. That 
was a feast to be remembered! 

After the christening party there were no 
more special happenings for a long time. At 
home New Moon played with Heaven-Sent 
and helped to take care of him. He grew 
bigger and more fun to play with all the 
time. New Moon carried him in her arms 
to look at the canary bird and to watch the 
goldfish darting about in their glass bowl. 

One day the family had a special soup for 
dinner with little balls of dough in it. 

“This is for the Coming of Winter, you 
know, New Moon,” said Mother. 

“Oh, yes,” said New Moon. “It is such 
good soup, my mother. And if this is the 
first day of winter,” she went on, “it won’t 
be long to the New Year feast, will it?” 

Mother laughed. “I think you will have to 
have patience, little daughter,” she said. 
“You know our New Year is set by the first 
new moon, your namesake, which comes 
after the first of January. It is different 



68 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


from the New Year of your American 
friends which comes on the first day of 
January.” 

“Yes,” said New Moon, “it’s different, and 
it’s much, much more beautiful than the 
American New Year.” 

“That is because it is our greatest fes¬ 
tival,” said Mother. 

It seemed a long time to wait, but New 
Moon was so busy that the days passed 
quickly. New Year was to come in the last 
week of January that year. 

One day New Moon and Peach Blossom 
were coming home from school. In the shop 
windows they saw red New Year cards with 
the Chinese character “Fu” written on 
them, to wish people good health and for¬ 
tune. 

“Oh, see,” said Peach Blossom. “New 
Year is coming.” 

They saw in other shop windows boxes 
and packages of Chinese sweets tied up in 
colored or flower-patterned papers for gifts. 
Along the streets were stands of Chinese 
toys and trinkets. Above the stands hung 
clusters of long strips of painted glass which 
tinkled when the wind blew. The old man 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


69 


who kept a flower stand had set out bowls 
and pots of white lilies and narcissus, also 
for New Year gifts. 

New Moon took Peach Blossom into her 
father’s shop. He always had very beautiful 
carved figures and silks at New Year’s time. 
The girls admired the carved ivory ele¬ 
phants and the little figures of people 
carved in ivory or jade. Then New Moon 
caught sight of a wonderful thing. It was 
a dragon’s head, painted in curlicue pat¬ 
terns of red and green and yellow, with gap¬ 
ing jaws and big round eyes and red pom¬ 
pons at the top of his head. 

“Oh, see, Peach Blossom,” she cried, 
“there is the Dragon.” 

To all Chinese children the Dragon was a 
wonderful, thrilling creature. On the New 
Year Festival he came out from some mys¬ 
terious hiding place and paraded through 
the streets. People offered him gifts, for he 
was believed to be a powerful spirit who 
would bring good luck and drive away evil. 

The two children looked over the Dragon 
head, admiring its beautiful colors. 

“I wish I could have a Dragon head,” said 
New Moon. 




70 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Well, we shall see, Little Flower,” said 
Father. 

When New Moon reached home Mother 
said, “Amah is going- to buy food for the 
festival dishes. Would you like to go with 
her?” 

“Oh, yes,” said New Moon. 

Amah wore a black cotton jacket and 
trousers, Chinese fashion. She started for 
the street bareheaded, with a basket on her 
arm. New Moon carried a basket too. 

First they went into a shop which had 
vegetables and roots in the window. Inside 
the shop it was dark and smelled of herbs 
and salty fish. New Moon looked all around 
at the things for sale while Amah talked in 
singsong Chinese with Mr. Wang, the shop¬ 
keeper. New Moon saw big wicker baskets 
of bamboo shoots and bean sprouts and 
water chestnuts. There were crisp roast 
chickens and whole roast pigs hanging up 
by their heads. On the shelves were boxes 
of dried herbs and fish, and hanging up 
above the counter were balls of dried fish 
skin. 

Amah bought vegetables and tender 
shoots of bean and bamboo, and some of 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


71 


the pork, which Mr. Wang sliced very thin. 
She also bought two big melons. Then she 
bought birds’ nest for the soup which they 
always had on festivals. It looked like sea¬ 
weed when Mr. Wang measured it out in 
the scales. Mr. Wang counted up what they 
owed him with wooden beads which were 
strung on wires in a frame. 

Then New Moon and Amah went into the 
shop next door to choose candied fruit and 
ginger in boxes covered with pretty paper. 
They also bought almonds for the dish of 
chicken and almonds which Mother was 
going to make. 

On the way home, New Moon stopped by 
the lily stand. 

“Oh, Amah,” she said, “I want to buy this 
beautiful lily for a New Year gift for Tien- 
Sung.” 

“Very well, my flower, so you shall,” said 
Amah. 

New Moon took the pretty green bowl in 
her arms. The lily stalks stood up tall with 
fragrant white blossoms on them. When 
they reached home New Moon knelt down 
by the baby, who was lying in a nest of 
cushions on the floor. “See, beautiful little 




72 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


brother,” she said, “here is your own gift.” 

Heaven-Sent reached out his tiny arms 
and would have caught the flowers if New 
Moon had not taken the bowl away and set 
it on the table by the window. 

On the day before New Year, Mother and 
Amah were busy all day preparing the deli¬ 
cious dishes for the feast next day. Chinese 
cooking takes a long time because of the 
many spicy things which are shredded and 
cooked to go in each dish. 

New Moon helped to dust and decorate the 
rooms. The chairs for the most honored 
uncles and aunts who were coming to din¬ 
ner next day were draped in red silk. Glass 
lanterns with long streamers of scarlet silk 
were hung from the ceiling. Chinese bowls 
of preserves and cakes were set on tables 
to serve to the guests. There were many 
bowls of narcissus flowers as well as 
Heaven-Sent’s lilies. Red New Year papers 
with good wishes written in Chinese char¬ 
acters were hung beside the pictures of the 
grandparents. 

On New Year morning, New Moon came 
to the breakfast table thinking, “I wonder 
what the New Year gifts are.” 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


73 


Mother and Father were waiting to pre¬ 
sent the gifts. First of all there was money 
wrapped in red paper, one package for her 
and one for Heaven-Sent. Then in a little 
box was a gold ring, to take the place of 
New Moon’s baby ring, which did not fit her 
any more. In a larger box, lying on a bed 
of satin, were two small bracelets of jade. 
New Moon slipped them on her arms with 
little squeals of joy. Now she felt like a 
grown-up lady. But she left off her ladylike 
ways when Father handed her the last gift 
—the Dragon head she had longed for! New 
Moon held it to her face and leaned over 
Heaven-Sent, pretending she was a Dragon, 
so that he squealed and kicked his heels. 

Then New Moon heard a burst of fire¬ 
crackers outside, and ran out on the balcony 
to look. New Year had begun! 

All the boys were in the street, lighting 
firecrackers, shouting and racing around. 
Turtle Boy was among them. 

“Hello, Turtle Boy,” called New Moon. 

“Hello, New Moon, want a firecracker?” 
he cried. He lighted one and tossed it up so 
that it burst just under the balcony. New 
Moon shouted with delight. She longed to 




74 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


join the boys, but she heard her mother call, 
“Stay on the balcony, please, New Moon.” 

In a few minutes Father came out. “You 
may help me put up the lights and banners, 
little daughter,” he said. 

So New Moon helped to hang strings of 
electric lights across the front of the bal¬ 
cony, and she shook out the folds of the 
Chinese and American flags before Father 
stuck the flag poles in their sockets. 

New Moon thought she couldn’t wait for 
the Dragon to appear. Up and down the 
street people were hanging out gifts for him 
—oranges or heads of lettuce with red paper 
envelopes of money attached. Cabbage was 
really the Dragon’s food, but since cabbages 
are too heavy to hang by strings, lettuce 
was used instead. 

New Moon’s family had ready a big head 
of lettuce and a red envelope of money, too. 
Mother fastened a long cord to the lettuce. 
“Now, when the Dragon comes to us, New 
Moon,” she said, “you shall offer him our 
gift. Let it down over the balcony by the 
cord until the Dragon takes it.” 

“Oh, Mother, that is a great honor, thank 
you,” said New Moon. 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


75 


Mother went in to get dressed and New 
Moon continued to watch the street from 
her balcony. It was crowded now with men 
and boys. From the windows and balconies 
along the street women and little girls were 
watching. New Moon saw Turtle Boy just 
below, still shooting off firecrackers. 

“I am now going to watch the Dragon 
come out,” he called to her importantly, and 
dashed off up the street. He and other boys 
went to the building where the Dragon had 
his hiding place, to wait for his appearance. 

New Moon went into the house to get 
dressed for the Festival. She and her moth¬ 
er wore their most beautiful suits of satin. 
New Moon’s was rose color and Mother’s 
was green. Mother wore her best ornaments 
of gold and jade and had large jade pins 
stuck in her sleek black hair. Of course New 
Moon proudly wore her new bracelets and 
ring. 

When New Moon went back to the bal¬ 
cony she heard far up the street the sound 
of Chinese drums and clashing cymbals. 

“Oh, Mother, Mother,” she cried, “the 
Dragon is coming!” 

Mother came out on the balcony with 




76 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Heaven-Sent in her arms, all dressed up in 
his red silk coat and embroidered cap. 
Amah came too, to have her share in the 
New Year Festival. They saw a flutter of 
silk banners, red, blue and gold above the 
heads of the crowd. The boom of drums 
grew louder. 

Now they could see the Dragon’s head, 
rising above the crowd as he leaped along. 
It was colored red and yellow and green. 
The red pompons on his head waved and 
his great ears flapped up and down. Chinese 
men and boys, and many Americans who 
had come to see the festival, pressed about 
him. He stopped near their house to take a 
gift which was let down from a balcony. 
The drums rolled, the Dragon danced, while 
policemen held back the great crowd. 

Then he came on toward New Moon’s 
house. The fluttering banners passed, and 
then came a man dressed in blue and carry¬ 
ing a great knife, who danced a sword dance 
before the Dragon, to lead him on. 

New Moon took their gift and let it down 
over the balcony, her heart beating wildly. 
The great Dragon head reared up below 
her. In deep sockets, fringed with white, the 












































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NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


81 


Dragon’s green eyes rolled. His jaws 
snapped open and shut, showing a red 
tongue. He leaped up and seized the lettuce 
and the money. Then he made a deep bow 
to New Moon, and began to dance. His long 
silky tail, striped red and green and white, 
wriggled and curved behind him as he 
swooped and turned and leaped. 

There was just a man inside the Dragon’s 
head, holding it up and dancing with it, and 
another man inside the tail, making it swoop 
and wiggle. New Moon knew that very well, 
but just the same she was thrilled, and a 
little bit terrified. 

The Dragon made one last leap and passed 
on with the sword dancer and the banners 
before him. The drums rolled and the cym¬ 
bals banged. After he had passed farther 
down the street, New Moon saw her father 
and uncle and Turtle Boy marching close 
behind him. 

She watched until the procession had 
passed way down the street. Then Peach 
Blossom and her mother and another aunt 
arrived. Much later, when the procession 
was over and the Dragon had gone back 
to his hiding place, Turtle Boy and his fa- 




82 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


ther came in to New Moon’s house. With 
them were two older, much respected uncles. 

The children gave their elders the proper, 
polite greetings. Then Turtle Boy, who was 
bursting to tell New Moon and Peach Blos¬ 
som about a wonderful thing which had hap¬ 
pened to him, said, “What do you think? I 
led the Dragon in his dance just before he 
went away!” 

“How could a boy do that!” exclaimed 
Peach Blossom. 

“My father gave me the banner to lead 
him with,” said Turtle Boy, proudly. “I beat 
time just the way the drums were beating, 
and the Dragon danced in front of me.” 

“Oh, Turtle Boy, were you scared?” asked 
New Moon. 

“No, of course not, the Dragon is only a 
man, you know. I saw his legs.” 

“Just the same, he is a wonderful Dragon, 
and I’m glad I didn’t see his legs,” said New 
Moon. 

Mother called them to the table. The fam¬ 
ily and their guests sat down to a feast of 
many courses. There was a great deal of 
talk and after awhile New Moon and Peach 
Blossom grew very sleepy. 




NEW MOON OF CHINATOWN 


83 


“You may both go to bed in New Moon’s 
bed,” said Mother. 

So the little girls said good night politely 
to every aunt and uncle and to their moth¬ 
ers and fathers. Then they went out on the 
balcony for one last look at the Festival. The 
street was very quiet because everyone was 
inside feasting. 

Up in the sky above the houses New Moon 
saw the silvery curve of the new moon. 
“See, Peach Blossom,” she said. “There I 
am up in the sky.” 

“So you are,” said Peach Blossom. “Happy 
New Year, New Moon!” 






JAN AND MARENKA 
YOUNG CZECHS 

I N A pleasant schoolroom a class of boys 
and girls was having a reading lesson. 
The teacher asked Marenka to read. 
“There was once a king who took great 
delight in hunting/’ she began. “One day 
he followed a stag a great distance into the 
forest. He went on and on until he lost his 
way. Night fell and the king, by happy 
chance, came upon a clearing where a char¬ 
coal burner had his hut.” 


84 



JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


85 


Marenka enjoyed reading the fairy tale 
which was their lesson, and was sorry when 
the teacher asked other boys and girls to 
read until the story was finished. They were 
not reading it in English, however. No, it 
was a Czech fairy tale, one which old women 
had told to children for centuries in the old 
country of Bohemia, now called Czechoslo¬ 
vakia. That was the country from which the 
families of Marenka and her friends had 
come to America. In this school they were 
studying the Czech language, and the geog¬ 
raphy and history of their homeland. 

After the reading lesson the teacher said, 
“Now we will sing some of the beautiful 
carols of our old country across the ocean. 
Christmas is coming soon, you know.” 

So the children gathered around the piano 
to sing the lovely songs. Marenka sang with 
all her heart, for there was nothing she 
liked better, except acting in a play. 

Then the teacher dismissed them, and 
Marenka, with her best friend Anicka, hur¬ 
ried out into the street. It was already dark, 
for the Czech lessons were held late in the 
afternoon, after the American school was 
over. The wind was cold, so the two girls 



86 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


skipped along quickly through the noisy 
streets of the great city of Chicago, where 
they lived. It was a long walk home. Anicka 
lived on the second floor of Marenka’s 
house. It was a two-family house, with a 
small yard in front. 

“Good-bye, Anicka,” called Marenka, as 
she dashed into her own door. Such a deli¬ 
cious smell greeted her in the dining room. 

“Yummy, are we having roast pork and 
dumplings for supper, Mother?” she asked. 

“Yes, my dear,” said Mother. “Good food 
for a cold night.” 

Brother Jan now came in whistling. He 
too had been to the Czech school, but since 
he was a year and a half older than Maren¬ 
ka, who was nine, he was in a different class. 
Father came in next, from the bank where 
he worked, and in a few minutes Mother 
called them all to supper. After their roast 
pork they had apple strudel for dessert, a 
sort of apple pie which the children loved. 

Marenka helped her mother clear away 
the supper and wash the dishes. Then the 
family gathered around the table with the 
reading lamp in the center. The room 
looked very cosy. There was a shelf of flow- 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


87 


ering plants in front of the window. A big 
clock ticked on the mantel. On one side of 
the clock stood a photograph of the Presi¬ 
dent of the United States, and on the other 
side a picture of President Masaryk of 
Czechoslovakia. The flags of the two coun¬ 
tries were crossed above the clock. 

Father settled down to read his Svornost, 
a Czech newspaper, while Mother went to 
work on the table cover she was embroider¬ 
ing. Jan had a great deal of homework to 
do. But Marenka took down from a shelf 
of books a big book of Czech fairy tales 
with beautiful colored pictures. It had be¬ 
longed to Mother when she was a little girl 
in Czechoslovakia. Ever since Marenka 
could remember Mother had showed her 
these pictures and told her the stories in the 
Czech language. Now Marenka was begin¬ 
ning to read them for herself. 

Jan sighed and grumbled over his lessons. 
'‘It’s hard, going to two schools,” he said. “I 
have so much work to do, and not enough 
time to play.” 

Father looked up from his paper. “When 
you are grown up you will be glad that you 
know the history of your father’s country, 




88 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


as well as that of our new land, America,” 
he said. “I want you to be proud of your 
race. The Czechs are fine, brave people who 
struggled hard for liberty. There is our 
splendid leader, you know,” he went on, 
pointing to the picture of President Masa- 
ryk. “We keep his picture right beside that 
of our American president, but though we 
sometimes change the American picture, 
Masaryk has been the only president of 
Czechoslovakia since it was a free nation.” 

“I never noticed before how fine he looks,” 
said Jan. 

“Yes, he is a man for you to admire, Jan.” 

“But what’s the use of learning Czech 
when I live in America, Father?” asked Jan. 

“You will understand our people better 
if you know their language, my boy.” 

“I like to study Czech because then I can 
read the fairy tales,” said Marenka dream¬ 
ily. She looked up at a big photograph on 
the wall, which showed wooded hills and the 
turrets of a castle, just like those in books. 
Mother had told her that it was a picture of 
a real castle in Czechoslovakia. “It must be 
a storybook country,” she thought. 

The family had an early supper on the 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


89 


next night, so that Jan and Marenka might 
go with their father to their classes at the 
Sokol. Twice a week they went to this club, 
to which all their Czech friends belonged. 
The purpose of the club was to train every¬ 
one, grown-ups as well as children, in ath¬ 
letic exercises and drills. There were also 
classes for singing Czech songs, and one 
group of young people was studying a play 
which they meant to perform later on. 

Father exercised in the gymnasium with 
his friends and did the athletic drills, just 
the same as the children. Jan and the other 
boys had some .play in the gymnasium too. 
Both Jan and Marenka enjoyed the exer¬ 
cises to lively music, and felt glowing and 
alive afterwards. 

While the children rested, their teacher 
talked to them. “I am going to tell you chil¬ 
dren once more the meaning of our Sokol 
Club,” he said. “Sokol, you know, means fal¬ 
con, a bird of the forest which is strong and 
daring. Years ago, the people of Bohemia, 
as we used to call Czechoslovakia, were op¬ 
pressed by their rulers, who wanted to de¬ 
stroy their national spirit. So the people took 
this bird for their symbol, or mascot. The 




90 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Sokol, to them, stood for courage and free¬ 
dom. In the clubs they formed, everybody, 
young and old, was trained through exer¬ 
cises to be physically strong, and in spirit to 
unite for the freedom of their country. 

“Now in America we Czech people keep 
up the Sokol societies. We want to have 
healthy bodies, and honest, courageous 
minds. We want to love our homeland, but 
also to be good citizens of America.” 

That was quite a long speech, but the chil¬ 
dren, especially Jan and the other boys, lis¬ 
tened with interest. 

“That’s just what Father said to me,” 
thought Jan. 

Christmas was approaching, and all the 
children were looking forward to the good 
time coming soon. As Marenka and Anicka 
walked home from school in the afternoons, 
they stopped by the candy shop window to 
choose what they would like for the Christ¬ 
mas tree. For the two families were going 
to share their tree this year. Whenever they 
had a few pennies to spend, they went in to 
buy something for it. Sometimes it was a 
chocolate turkey or a fish wrapped in gold 
paper, sometimes striped candy sticks. In 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


91 


their free time the two girls were busy mak¬ 
ing paper chains for the tree with links of 
gold, silver, or bright-colored paper. They 
also painted walnuts with gold and silver 
paint and tied silver strings to them, for tree 
ornaments. 

On the day before Christmas Mother was 
busy making cakes, and loaves of Christmas 
twist, a braided sweet bread with nuts and 
raisins in it, called vanocka. She sent Maren- 
ka out to do some last minute shopping for 
her, and Anicka went along. They stopped 
in at the fine big butcher shop of Anicka’s 
father to admire the fat goose he was sav¬ 
ing to be roasted for their Christmas dinner. 
Then they went on to another shop to get 
the fish which Mother had ordered for the 
Christmas Eve supper. 

It was a big jolly party which gathered 
around the supper table in Marenka’s home, 
for besides Anicka and her parents there 
were her two brothers—Ladislav who was 
ten, and Peter, just five. What a feast they 
had! First there was soup of fish roe, then 
stewed black fish in a rich sauce. Then came 
fried carp with butter, and dishes of fruit 
compote to go with it. After that there was 




92 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Cemy Kuba, or Black Jacob, which Mother 
said was a country Christmas dish in the old 
country. It was pudding of barley and mush¬ 
rooms. Then for dessert they had Kolack 
(little tarts) and dolicky, or butter cakes 
spread with jam and grated cheese. 

After supper Mother disappeared into the 
parlor for a minute. Then she opened the 
door, ringing a little bell, and they all crowd¬ 
ed into the room to see the shining tree. 
How pretty it looked, hung with candies, 
gilded nuts, dorty (cakes), and marzipan 
(almond paste), with the light of candles 
glittering on the silver and gold chains. 
Presents for everyone lay under the tree. 
When they had all been opened and admired, 
the grown-ups settled down to a game of 
cards. 

The children started fortune telling 
games. They took some apples from the tree 
and cut them crosswise to see whether the 
seeds were in a star shape or a cross. If it 
was a star, the person who had it would live 
another year, but if it was a cross, that per¬ 
son would die. No one worried very much, 
however, when he got a cross! Then An- 
icka and Marenka each peeled an apple and 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


93 


threw the peeling over their shoulders to 
find out the first letters of their sweethearts’ 
names. The boys thought it was a silly 
game. 

Next they split walnuts in two and fas¬ 
tened tiny lighted candles in each half shell. 
They set the shells sailing in a big pan of 
water. “Whose boat will go farthest?” asked 
Anicka, blowing on them gently. The tiny 
boats bobbed about with the candles twink¬ 
ling, and presently Marenka’s was away 
across the pan. 

“Oh, look how far Marenka is going to 
travel!” cried Ladislav. 

“I wish that would come true,” laughed 
Marenka. 

“Gee, watch me travel, too,” said Jan, giv¬ 
ing a puff which sent his boat across the pan. 

“No fair,” cried Ladislav. “Anybody can 
travel that way.” 

They played with the boats until the can¬ 
dles were burned out. By that time the 
grown-ups had finished their card game, 
and the children were called to the piano. 
All together they sang the pretty old carols 
which the fathers and mothers loved as 
much as the children. 




94 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


One day, soon after Christmas, Marenka 
and Anicka went to spend the afternoon at 
the Public Library near their homes. In the 
Children’s Room there were many interest¬ 
ing Czech story books with fine pictures 
which they liked to look at. This afternoon 
was a special occasion, however, for a wo¬ 
man who spoke Czech was going to tell them 
one of the old stories. 

“Ask the librarian for a nice book in Czech 
for me,” called Marenka’s mother as the 
girls started. 

A big group of girls and boys gathered in 
the Children’s Room to listen to the woman, 
who told them a lively story about the ad¬ 
ventures of a bad water spirit. Devils of 
various kinds are very amusing characters 
in Czech stories, and the children chuckled 
over the misfortunes of this water sprite. 

The holidays soon came to an end, but the 
children were not sorry to go back to school. 
They liked their American lessons, and in 
the Czech school rehearsals were started for 
a play in that language. Marenka and An¬ 
icka, as well as their brothers Jan and Lad- 
islav, were to take part. It meant lots of 
work, for they must learn their lines, and go 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


95 


to many rehearsals outside of their regular 
school time. But it was great fun just the 
same. 

The play was a fairy story, with a witch, a 
fairy queen, and some funny village charac¬ 
ters. Marenka was to be the fairy queen, be¬ 
cause there were several songs in the part, 
and she could sing very well. Anicka was to 
be the witch. Jan had the part of a hunter, 
and Ladislav, because he was so big, was to 
be the village mayor. All the mothers were 
kept busy helping the boys and girls make 
their costumes. 

The weeks flew by, until the play was 
ready and a Sunday afternoon was set for 
its performance. It was given in the neigh¬ 
borhood hall, where there was a real stage, 
with scenery, footlights, and a curtain that 
rolled up and down. All the mothers and 
fathers and children came, even the babies. 
The big room was crowded with people talk¬ 
ing and laughing. The very little children 
raced up and down the aisles and stuffed 
themselves with cakes and buns while wait¬ 
ing for the play to begin. 

Some of the mothers helped the young 
actors and actresses dress and paint their 




96 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


faces with stage make-up. Then their teach¬ 
ers told them to take their places. The neigh¬ 
borhood musicians, playing the piano, a vio¬ 
lin and a drum, struck up the music—and 
the curtain went up! 

When Marenka spoke her first lines the 
sound of her voice all alone in the big room 
terrified her, but soon she forgot everything 
but the play. When it came time for the 
fairy queen’s songs, her voice was true and 
clear. Jan wasn’t frightened at all, and he 
made out of the hunter a very funny char¬ 
acter. The audience clapped and cheered be¬ 
tween each scene. 

When the play was over the actors ran 
down into the hall to be praised by parents 
and friends. In the next room refreshments 
were being served. There was coffee for 
mothers and fathers and bottles of pop for 
the children, and more cakes and buns with 
poppy seeds on them. 

After a little rest the children were to do 
folk dances, and the best dancers of the 
school were to take part. Of course Jan and 
Marenka, as well as Anicka and Ladislav, 
were in the dances. The boys and girls were 
to wear Czechoslovak costumes. Many of 





Each pair held big red handkerchiefs between them 





























JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 


99 


them were the very costumes which had be¬ 
longed to their parents, others had been cop¬ 
ied by the mothers from the old designs. 

Marenka’s costume had been her mother’s 
when she was a little girl, and now it just 
fitted Marenka. It was very gay, with a full 
red skirt and embroidered apron, a tight 
bodice with wide sleeves, puffed and pleated, 
and a pretty cap with long red streamers 
behind. All the little girls wore red stockings 
and black slippers. 

The children sang the gay little tunes as 
they danced. Marenka was glad that Ladis- 
lav was her partner, because he danced so 
well, and her heart gave a special skip of 
joy when she heard the music of her favorite 
Handkerchief Dance. Each pair held big 
red handkerchiefs between them as they 
stepped through the pretty pattern of the 
dance. Marenka joined her voice to the oth¬ 
ers, singing gayly: 

“See the red handkerchiefs turning around, 
Oh, turning around, oh, turning around. 
Tra la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la, 

Tra la la la, la la la, la la la la. 




100 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


If you will love me a kerchief I’ll buy, 

A kerchief I’ll buy, a kerchief I’ll buy. 

Tra la la la, la la la, la la la, la la la, 

Tra la la la, la la la, la la la la.” 

No one wanted to go home when the danc¬ 
ing was finished, so they all sat around talk¬ 
ing and eating for a long time. At last, how¬ 
ever, the mothers said the children really 
must go to bed, so the great party was over. 

It was not long after the play that signs 
of spring began to show. The grass plot in 
the front yard was getting greener every 
day. Mother bought pots of red geraniums 
to set in the windows. On Sunday mornings 
Father worked in the back yard, spading up 
a patch of ground for his vegetables and 
Mother’s flowers. 

A few days before Easter Marenka and 
Anicka went after school to a Czech bakery 
which sold very good cakes. They were look¬ 
ing for Judas cakes, dipped in honey, which 
were made for Good Friday. Sure enough, 
the baker had them, and each little girl 
bought one to eat on the way home. 

Then they went to Anicka’s house to paint 
Easter eggs. Anicka’s mother was going to 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 101 


help them, for she knew how to decorate 
eggs with beautiful patterns, as they were 
done in the old country. The girls could 
make only simple designs, but Anicka’s 
mother showed them how to paint flowers 
on the shells with wax, then dip the eggs 
into a colored dye. Next the wax was melted 
off, and another color painted into the flower 
pattern. Anicka and Marenka worked hard. 
They wanted to have many pretty eggs to 
give to their friends, who would come to ask 
for eggs on Easter morning. 

When Marenka was ready to go down¬ 
stairs to her home, Anicka’s mother gave 
her a small basket of beautiful eggs, paint¬ 
ed in lovely patterns and many colors. “Give 
these to your mother, Marenka,” she said, 
“to decorate your Easter table.” 

“Oh, how pretty they are. Thank you,” 
said Marenka. 

She went downstairs slowly, carrying her 
own eggs and the lovely gift for Mother. 
The eggs made Mother very happy, for they 
reminded her of Easter parties when she 
was a girl. 

After breakfast on Easter morning Ma¬ 
renka and Anicka sat on the porch with their 





102 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


painted eggs, looking hopefully to see if the 
boys they liked best would come demanding 
gifts. Soon two boys came swaggering down 
the street carrying pussy willow switches 
tied with red ribbons. 

“Goody, there come Paul and Karel,” 
whispered Anicka. 

“Hello, Marenka; hello, Anicka,” said the 
boys as they came up grinning. They flicked 
their switches over the girls’ shoulders, so 
that they jumped up squealing and ran 
around the porch. The boys chased them, 
giving little taps with the switches. 

“Give us eggs,” they shouted. So each girl 
gave up one of her eggs to each boy. Sev¬ 
eral more school friends came along then, 
and more eggs were given away. 

Marenka and Anicka saved their prettiest 
eggs, hoping that their big brothers Jan and 
Ladislav would come. At last they came 
prancing up the walk, their pockets bulging 
with painted eggs which various girls had 
given them. 

“Give me an egg, Marenka,” shouted 
Ladislav, tapping her on the head with his 
switch. Marenka ran away, but when Lad¬ 
islav came after her she gave him the egg 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 103 


she had saved. “See, it’s the prettiest one I 
made,” she said eagerly. 

“Come on, let’s play for the eggs,” said 
Jan, taking some nickels from his pocket. 

They all sat down on the steps. The girls 
each held an egg cupped in a hand with just 
a tiny bit showing. The boys tossed the 
nickels at the eggs, trying to throw them so 
that the shell would crack. If the shell 
cracked, the boy who threw the nickel won 
the egg; but if not, the girl had the money. 
They had great fun with the game, but pres¬ 
ently they were all called to dinner, so it 
came to an end. 

Summer was on the way. It was hard to 
stay in school on warm spring days. In the 
big American school the children of Maren- 
ka’s class were studying their own city of 
Chicago. One Friday afternoon their teacher 
said, “Tomorrow, Saturday morning, I want 
you all to meet me here. We shall go on an 
excursion to see the lake and the Field Mu¬ 
seum. Who knows the name of the lake 
beside which Chicago is built?” 

“Lake Michigan,” said Marenka proudly. 

“That’s right,” said the teacher. “Now be 
here at nine o’clock tomorrow.” 




104 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Next morning, Marenka and Anicka were 
the first children to arrive at the school. As 
soon as the whole class was together they 
got into a bus with their teacher and rode 
off through many busy streets. The sun was 
shining and the air was warm, just the day 
for an excursion. Presently they came to a 
broad avenue crowded with automobiles and 
busses. 

On one side of the avenue were tall splen¬ 
did buildings, and on the other side, beyond 
a park, was the lake, blue and sparkling. 
From fountains in the green park, showers 
of spray rose against the sky. As the bus 
rolled on the teacher pointed out the Art 
Institute, the Aquarium where all sorts of 
fish were to be seen, and the Planetarium 
where people could study the stars. 

Then the bus stopped in front of a fine 
marble building. It was the Field Museum. 
Just beyond it was the lake with boats pass¬ 
ing back and forth. The children were sorry 
to go in, but when they had mounted the 
great flight of steps and walked into the 
huge halls, they found so many fascinating 
things to see that they forgot the lake. 

Their teacher took them into a room where 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 106 


there were skeletons of enormous animals 
which lived on the earth in ancient times, 
before there were human beings. She ex¬ 
plained each one to them. 

Marenka looked up at the huge skeleton 
of a dinosaur, towering above her. “Oh, my, 
Anicka,” she whispered, “aren’t you glad 
those animals don’t live now?” 

“They would swallow us up in one bite, 
wouldn’t they,” answered Anicka. 

They went on to other rooms where they 
saw life-size figures of Indians with their 
canoes and tepees. There were also African 
savages with headdresses of plumes, and 
many other interesting figures. The morn¬ 
ing was gone in no time, and the teacher 
said it was time to go. Anicka and Marenka 
were tired and hungry when they reached 
home. Their mothers had a good lunch wait¬ 
ing for them, but in spite of their hunger, 
the girls stopped eating every few minutes 
to tell more about the wonderful things they 
had seen. 

One day, soon after the excursion, when 
Jan and Marenka came in to supper, they 
found Mother much excited. A letter had 
come from Aunt Yulka who lived far off in 




106 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Nebraska, inviting them all to come out 
there to visit. 

“You know, children,” said Mother, “I 
haven’t seen my sister Yulka for many 
years. And your grandparents, who live 
with her, have never seen you.” 

“Why did they go so far away?” asked 
Jan. 

“You see, my father and mother always 
longed for a farm, for they lived in the 
country in Europe. They came here to Chi¬ 
cago when I was a little girl and Yulka a 
few years older. But when Yulka grew up 
and married Anton, who wanted to be a 
farmer, they all went out to Nebraska to 
start a farm. I stayed here to marry Fa¬ 
ther, and I haven’t seen my family since.” 

“Well,” said Father, “I think it is time 
you visited them. Suppose you all plan to 
go when the children are through school in 
June.” 

“Oh, can we really go?” cried Jan. “How 
fine!” 

“Has Aunt Yulka any children?” Maren- 
ka wanted to know. 

“Yes, there are three big boys and a little 
girl younger than you.” 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 107 


Marenka flew upstairs to tell Anicka the 
great news. 

“Oh, Marenka,” exclaimed her friend, 
“then the game came true. Don’t you re¬ 
member when we sailed walnut boats on 
Christmas Eve to see who would travel— 
and your boat sailed all across the pan?” 

“Oh, yes, it came true, it came true,” 
shouted Marenka. 

Jan and Marenka thought school would 
never come to an end, but vacation did ar¬ 
rive at last! The very next morning, Father 
took them to the station where they were to 
get aboard a big bus. 

“I wish you were coming with us, Father,” 
said Marenka, as they settled in their seats. 

“Oh, I have to stay here and watch the 
bank, so the money won’t fly away,” an¬ 
swered Father teasingly. 

Then the bus started with a roar, and Fa¬ 
ther was left behind waving to them. 

They rode through miles of streets. Jan 
and Marenka had had no idea that Chicago 
was so big. After they left the city the bus 
rolled along across a wide flat country. 
Sometimes they passed through towns. 
Whenever the bus stopped they all got out 




108 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


to stretch their legs and buy something to 
eat. When night came, they curled up in 
their seats and slept as best they could. 

As the bus went rolling on next day the 
country seemed to grow bigger and bigger. 
Huge fields of corn and wheat stretched to 
the horizon. There were very few trees and 
the farm houses were far apart. Late in the 
afternoon they came to the small town 
where Uncle Anton was to meet them. When 
they got out of the bus a big, sturdy man 
came toward them and Mother went to meet 
him. They began to talk excitedly in Czech. 
Then Mother turned to the children. “This 
is your Uncle Anton,” she said. 

The big man gave them each a pat and 
said heartily, “Glad to see you, kids.” He 
led them down the main street of the town 
to his car. They got in, and in just a few 
minutes they were out in the big open 
country. 

Marenka took a deep breath. “Oh, Moth¬ 
er, how good the air smells,” she exclaimed. 

“Yes,” said Mother happily. “In the city 
we forget what a real breath of air is like.” 

After they had driven for miles over a 
dusty road, Uncle Anton drove into a farm 




JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 109 


yard. “Here we are,” he shouted very gaily. 

The whole family came running out to 
meet them. Aunt Yulka was big and jolly. 
There were three tall boys, very brown— 
Marek, Peter and young Anton. Then came 
seven-year-old Yulka and her grandfather 
and grandmother. They took Jan and Ma- 
renka in their arms and made a great fuss 
over them. 

Aunt Yulka led them to the supper table. 
She had cooked a big meal, which the hungry 
travelers welcomed. The children especially 
loved the cherry dumplings sprinkled with 
cinnamon and poppy seeds. 

Next day a new kind of life began for Jan 
and Marenka. All day they were out in the 
hot sun, and soon they were almost as brown 
as their cousins. Jan wore overalls like a 
real farm boy, and Marenka went around 
bare-legged in short play dresses. The big 
boys were kind and jolly to their city cous¬ 
ins. They showed Jan how to help with some 
of the farm work. They were cutting alfal¬ 
fa, which would be food for the cattle in 
winter. Jan loved to watch the big mowing 
machine traveling back and forth across the 
wide fields. 





110 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Yulka took care of the chickens and she 
let Marenka help her. Sometimes Uncle An¬ 
ton gave the two little girls a ride on one 
of the big farm horses. Best of all Marenka 
liked to run about in the sun and wind, or 
sit in the shade of the tall sunflower plants, 
which lifted their great gold and black faces 
to the sky. In Chicago, she had never no¬ 
ticed the sky very much, but here it was like 
a huge blue bowl above their heads. She 
loved, also, to watch the wind blow over miles 
of golden wheat, making ripples which went 
on and on, like waves. 

The family talked in Czech all the time, 
and Jan and Marenka were glad indeed that 
they knew their home language, especially 
when Grandmother or Grandfather told 
them stories of the old country. Nearly all 
the farmers in the region were Czech people. 

On Sundays they had time to be sociable. 
Then, right after midday dinner, the whole 
family climbed into the car and drove across 
country to visit the farm of some friends. 
They spent the whole afternoon talking, 
singing, and having good things to eat and 
drink. 

Sometimes they stayed home on Sunday 



JAN AND MARENKA, YOUNG CZECHS 111 


and friends came to visit them. Then Uncle 
Anton would get out his accordion and play 
the schottische and polka for everyone to 
dance. 

Jan and Marenka begged to stay all sum¬ 
mer, but Mother said it would never do to 
leave Father alone all that time. So after 
a few joyful weeks the children sadly packed 
their bags to leave. Grandfather and Grand¬ 
mother said that since they were too old to 
travel, the children must come again soon. 

“But you, Yulka, will come to Chicago 
sometime with little Yulka and the boys,” 
begged Mother. 

“Please do,” said Jan. “Then we can show 
you what fun there is in the city, just as you 
have given us a good time in the country.” 

Uncle Anton drove them to the town to 
take the bus. Marenka could not help cry¬ 
ing a little as it started. She and Jan leaned 
out the window, waving to Uncle Anton. 

“Good-bye, good-bye,” they called. “Come 
soon to Chicago.” 






LUPITA AND PEDRO 
OF NEW MEXICO 


E ARLY one bright autumn morning a 
boy and a girl came running out of 
their house, chattering to each other 
in Spanish. Pedro, the boy, went to the ani¬ 
mal corral and led out a woolly gray burro. 

“Chiquito,” he said to the burro, “you’d 
better be good today. We’re going to the 
hills to gather pinon nuts.” 

Chiquito gave a loud bray, but he really 
didn’t mind going. 


112 


LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 113 


“Now, Lupita,” the boy called to his sister, 
“bring the sacks and then tell Papa and 
Mamacita that we are ready.” 

Pedro strapped the empty sacks on the 
burro’s back. Then Papa and Mamacita 
came out of the house. Mamacita had a 
black shawl wrapped around her head and 
shoulders. She carried a basket of lunch 
which Papa slung on Chiquito’s back. 

The little procession trudged up the hill 
behind the house. 

“Good-bye, Grandfather,” the children 
called to an old man who stood in the door¬ 
way to see them off. Grandfather used to 
gather pinon nuts, too, but now he was too 
lame for hill climbing. 

They followed steep paths toward the 
humpy red hills in the distance, dotted with 
small fir trees called pinons. Down in the 
valley they could see the aspen trees along 
the river, which autumn had turned to 
bright gold. The distant mountains were 
sharp purple against the sky. As they went 
on, the track grew steeper and steeper, un¬ 
til the low bushy trees were thick about 
them. 

Lupita and Pedro each took a sack and ran 




114 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


shouting to each other among the trees. 

“I’ll fill mine first,” cried Pedro. 

“No, you won’t, I’ll beat you,” cried Lu- 
pita. 

They wriggled under the lowest branches, 
picking up handfuls of tiny brown nuts. 
Frost had loosened their burrs so that they 
fell out on the ground. Mamacita and Papa 
went slowly, gathering the nuts under the 
larger trees. They couldn’t get under the 
little trees as the children could. Lupita and 
Pedro worked hard, although they stopped 
now and then to chase each other among the 
trees and look for chunks of gum on the 
trunks. It had a sharp piny taste, and they 
liked it as well as the chewing gum they 
bought in the village store. 

After they had worked several hours Lu¬ 
pita came running to her mother with a 
bulging sack. “See, Mamacita,” she cried, 
“I beat Pedro. My sack is full.” 

And so it was. Lupita was smaller than 
Pedro, for she was eight and he was nine, 
but she was very quick and had nimble fin¬ 
gers. 

Soon Papa and Pedro appeared with full 
sacks, shouting that they were hungry. So 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 115 


the family sat down on a sunny slope to en¬ 
joy a picnic lunch. Mamacita gave them 
tortillas from the basket. Tortillas are flat 
corn meal cakes which the Spanish people 
in New Mexico like very much. They had 
dried fruits and cakes too. When they fin¬ 
ished their lunch they lay on the ground 
enjoying the hot sun and cool air. Lupita 
and Pedro sang little Spanish songs to¬ 
gether because they felt so happy. 

“Bring Chiquito, Pedro,” said Papa after 
a while. “It is time to go home.” 

Pedro dragged the unwilling burro from 
among the trees where he was nibbling dry 
plants. The sacks of nuts were tied on his 
back and the family started home. The 
winding trail down the hills seemed very 
long now that they were tired. 

At last they saw their house on a hillside. 
It looked like a square box with a flat lid 
for a roof. The sunset light made it a rosy 
brown color. It was almost the same color 
as the earth around it. This was not surpris¬ 
ing, because the walls were made of the red¬ 
dish earth, called adobe. 

Papa had made the bricks for the house 
out of the clay, mixing it with straw. When 





116 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the bricks had dried in the sun he built them 
into walls and covered them with a smooth 
coat of the adobe mud. He had painted a 
bright blue line around window and door 
frames. That was the Virgin Mary’s color 
and would bring them good luck. Mamacita 
had put pots of red geraniums on the win¬ 
dow sills to add a pretty touch of color. 

A wonderful spicy smell greeted the fam¬ 
ily as they entered their cosy whitewashed 
room. Grandfather had a big pot of meat 
and chili peppers simmering on the stove, 
for he knew they would be very hungry. 
Spanish people mix chilis with their food to 
make it peppery. 

Logs from pinon trees were burning 
brightly in the oval plastered fireplace. The 
children ran to warm themselves at the 
blaze. 

“What a good little tree the pinon is,” said 
Papa, as he held out his hands to the fire. 
“It gives us nuts for food and wood to make 
us warm.” 

A few days after their picnic, Papa and 
Pedro again went with Chiquito to the hills 
to get wood. Pedro was strong enough to 
chop down the small pinon trees himself. 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 117 


He and Papa cut down trees and fastened 
the wood in a bundle on Chiquito’s back to 
be taken home. When they returned Papa 
unfastened the cord which held the wood, 
and down it tumbled to the ground. Lupita 
helped them pile it up against the house. 

They had gathered more wood than they 
needed, so next day Grandfather made a 
big package of it. It was so big that when 
they fastened it on Chiquito’s back, only his 
head and tail showed. Then Grandfather 
walked in to the village with the burro to 
sell the wood. 

Every day Lupita and Pedro walked a 
long way to the village to go to school. 
Their friends from the next farm, Carmen- 
cita and Jose, joined them. On the way they 
crossed a dry river bed full of sand and 
stones. 

When a big rain came the river bed was 
filled with water for a little while. Then they 
had to wait for it to rush away before they 
could cross. But that did not happen very 
often in their dry country. 

Nearly all the people in the little town 
were Spanish, but the school classes were 
conducted in English. The children spoke 




118 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


English very well, and in school they were 
learning to be little American citizens. 

Long ago the great-great-great-great¬ 
grandfathers of Lupita, Pedro and other 
village children came with other Spaniards 
to settle in the southwestern part of our 
country when no one lived there but the In¬ 
dians. And ever since then Spanish people 
have lived in New Mexico. 

Lupita and Pedro liked the Spanish vil¬ 
lage. It was nice to have a lot of houses 
close together instead of one house all by 
itself like theirs. There was a shop where 
they could buy licorice sticks or penny can¬ 
dies. On the counter was a pile of bright- 
colored rugs and blankets. They were woven 
by the fathers of the children with whom 
Lupita and Pedro went to school. When they 
went home after school with their friend 
Felipe they watched his father patiently 
weaving at the loom. Felipe’s father sold his 
rugs and blankets and made money enough 
to buy food and clothes for his children. 

One winter afternoon Pedro and Lupita 
had stayed to play with Felipe a long time. 
It was very late and cold when they reached 
home. They were glad to sit close by the fire 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 119 


to toast their toes. Mamacita brought them 
a bowl of pinon nuts to nibble. Grandfather 
was sitting by the fire too, whittling away 
at a block of wood. Grandfather could carve 
so cleverly that before long the chunk of 
wood became a figure or an animal. 

“Tell us a story, Grandfather, please,” 
said Pedro. 

“What would you like to hear?” asked 
Grandfather. 

“About Los Pastores,” said Lupita. 

That was the story of the shepherds who 
followed a star to find the baby Jesus in a 
manger, but in Grandfather’s story the 
shepherds had many adventures. Lupita 
and Pedro liked to hear it over and over. 

“What are you making, Grandfather?” 
asked Pedro when the story was finished. 

“What does it look like?” asked Grand¬ 
father, holding up the piece of carved wood. 

“Why, it’s the Santo Nino,” cried Lupita. 
That is the Spanish name for the Christ- 
child. 

“Yes,” said Grandfather, “I’m making 
Him for Christmas, to lie in that niche 
there.” He pointed to a hollow in the wall 
near the fireplace. 




120 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Do you know that next week comes La 
Noche BuenaV’ he asked. 

“Oh, how can I wait for it!” cried Lupita, 
clapping her hands. La Noche Buena is the 
name they give to Christmas Eve in New 
Mexico. Pedro and Lupita thought it the 
most beautiful night in all the year. 

At last Christmas Eve came. The whole 
family w;as busy getting ready for the fes¬ 
tival. 

Mamacita and Lupita cleaned the house 
and cooked Christmas food. Lupita took the 
Santo Nino Grandfather had carved and laid 
Him in the niche by the fireplace, on a bed of 
pinon sprigs. Father fastened a painted 
panel of the Holy Mother above the door with 
candles beside it. 

Pedro built up the Christmas bonfire be¬ 
fore the house, laying the sticks crosswise in 
a square, like a log cabin. 

All day snow had fallen softly. After sup¬ 
per, when the children went out to light the 
bonfire, they found a world of white moun¬ 
tains and valleys. Merrily the yellow flames 
leaped up. From their dooryard they saw 
other little bonfires glowing on the hillsides, 
one before each homestead. Just down the 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 121 


hill Carmencita and Jose were lighting their 
bonfire. 

Late in the evening the family bundled up 
in warm clothes to walk to the village for 
midnight service in the church. It was bitter 
cold as they trudged along the snowy road. 
But when they reached the village, how 
warmly the light glowed from the open door 
of the small church and how the bell rang 
out! Fir trees stood about the altar in the 
church, and candles burned before the Holy 
Family. Little figures of the Virgin, Saint 
Joseph, and the animals, stood near the 
Santo Nino, laid on a bed of straw. 

Each family, as they entered the church, 
went up to bow to the Holy Family. Pedro 
and Lupita, their eyes starry with excite¬ 
ment, kissed the waxen body of the Baby 
Jesus. While the priest chanted the Christ¬ 
mas service the children looked around at 
the flickering candles and the saints in their 
niches. The village people had brought pres¬ 
ents to the saints, bunches of paper flowers 
and shiny Christmas tree balls. 

After church Carmencita and Jose and 
their mother and father walked home with 
the family to their house for the Pihata 




122 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


party. The pinata was a big clay jar filled 
with tiny toys and candies, which was hung 
from the ceiling of their room. One by one 
the children were blindfolded and given a 
stick with which to try to hit it. The blind¬ 
folded one leaped about, hitting in every 
direction. 

At last Pedro aimed straight. Crack! went 
the stick against the jar. It broke, and down 
tumbled the goodies to the floor. The chil¬ 
dren scrambled for them until their hands 
were full of treasures. 

Papa next brought out his fiddle and 
played for everyone to dance. Mamacita 
brought cakes and good things to drink. 
Before the friends went home the children 
sang all together old Spanish songs in honor 
of the Christchild. Then everyone said 
good night, and Pedro and Lupita snuggled 
down in their beds with the Santo Nino by 
the fireplace watching over them. 

When Christmas was past the best fun of 
the winter was over. There were many cold 
days of trudging back and forth to school 
before the strong sun brought warm weath¬ 
er again. 

One spring day it felt really hot at last. 





Little figures stood near the Santo Nino 












































































LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 125 


Good-bye to coats and sweaters! Lupita put 
on a pink cotton dress. Pedro wore overalls 
and a thin shirt to work in the garden. 

Lupita and Grandfather sat on a bench in 
the sunshine shelling seed corn into a basket 
for Papa and Pedro to plant. Some of the 
ears were pretty colors—blue, red, or yel¬ 
low. Others were white. In New Mexico the 
white ears are fed to the animals and the 
colored ones are ground into corn meal to 
make tortillas and other good food. 

When the basket was full Lupita ran 
down the hillside path to take it to her 
father in the valley fields. He and Pedro 
were planting corn and beans, melons and 
peppers, in straight rows, watering the 
seeds carefully from the small stream near 
by. 

Before many weeks had passed the gar¬ 
den was green with growing things and 
there was much to do every day. 

Lupita and Pedro looked forward to June, 
for then came the fiesta, or festival of San 
Juan. They had been taught by their par¬ 
ents to love the saints and to believe in their 
help. The people of New Mexico like to give 
San Juan a specially fine celebration, be- 




126 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


cause he is the saint of water, so important 
to them. 

On the morning of the fiesta the whole 
family, even Grandfather, started early to 
walk to the village for the festival. Lupita 
wore her best ruffled blue dress, and Pedro 
his best trousers and a shirt with collar and 
tie. 

When they came to the village the bell in 
the little crooked church tower was ringing 
gaily. The square in front of the church 
was filled with booths. There were ribbons 
and beads and toys, ice cream, sandwiches 
and cakes for sale. All the people were hap¬ 
py and laughing. 

Soon the bell rang even more loudly, and 
a procession came out of the church. San 
Juan was being taken for a little walk 
around the square. Lupita watched him go¬ 
ing by on the shoulders of two men. He was 
carved out of wood with his robes painted 
in bright colors. He had large staring eyes 
and a black pointed beard. Lupita thought 
how pleased he must be to have a holiday 
from standing always in the same niche in 
the church. 

“Now I’m sure he’ll be kind and make 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 127 


plenty of rain for the gardens,” she thought. 

San Juan gave them a few showers, but 
not enough. Every day the sun shone hot 
and the earth became very dry. Papa and 
Pedro had to scoop up small pails of water 
from among the stones in the little stream 
to water the plants. Lupita helped Mamacita 
to cut up peaches and squashes which they 
spread on the flat roof to dry in the sun. 
Then they would be stored away for the 
winter. Every day Mamacita and Lupita 
sat with a basket of peppers from the gar¬ 
den, tying bunches of them into long strings 
which they hung on nails on the house wall. 
In no time at all the sun turned them bright 
red. 

Early one morning, some weeks after the 
fiesta, Papa said, “Today Pedro and I are 
going to take vegetables to Santa Fe to sell.” 
Then what a bustle there was! Pedro went 
down to the garden with Papa to gather 
melons, squashes, and beans. Lupita filled a 
basket with the gay strings of peppers she 
and Mamacita had made. 

Soon Papa and Pedro came toiling up the 
hill with full baskets. They harnessed Tonio, 
the old horse, to the farm cart, and packed 




128 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the baskets, carefully covered, in the back. 

“Oh, I wish I could go, too!” exclaimed 
Lupita. 

“You’re too little,” said Pedro, who was 
proud because he was to be his father’s 
helper on the trip. 

“Some time I’ll take you, nina (little 
one),” said Papa, “but today I have much 
business to attend to.” 

Mamacita put a basket of tortillas in the 
cart for their lunch. Then Papa and Pedro 
climbed up on the high seat and Tonio 
started down the rough road. 

“I’ll bring you a present, Lupita,” called 
Pedro to his little sister. 

Papa drove the wagon down the hill and 
across a sandy plain. Then he drove through 
the dry river bed, and soon they came to the 
main road which led to Santa Fe. Many 
automobiles passed them, but Tonio paid no 
attention to them. He just jogged slowly 
along. The sun shone down bright and hot. 
All around them was empty dry country, 
with hardly a house to be seen. In the dis¬ 
tance were blue mountains. 

Finally they arrived in Santa Fe, the big 
town. Slowly Tonio dragged the cart through 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 129 


the streets, while Papa called in a singsong 
voice, “Melones, calabazas, chilis ,” which 
means “Melons, squashes, chilis.” The 
housewives popped out of their doors and 
climbed up on the wagon to look at the vege¬ 
tables. The Spanish women argued about 
the price they should pay, but the Americans 
paid the first price Papa asked. Pedro car¬ 
ried the purchases into the houses and some¬ 
times he was rewarded with a cooky or a 
glass of milk. 

Presently, when they had driven all 
around the town, Papa hitched Tonio to a 
post in the Plaza, the big square. “Now, 
Pedro,” he said, “here is ten cents for you 
because you have helped me. Buy a present 
for Lupita and something for yourself. You 
may play in the Plaza until I am ready to 
go home.” 

Pedro walked round and round the Plaza. 
How exciting it was to be in a big town! 
The streets were full of people, and auto¬ 
mobiles rushed about. The shop windows 
were wonderful. Pedro decided to spend his 
ten cents on candy for Lupita and himself. 
So he went into a shop which had a window 
full of candies. 




130 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Buenos dias, Senor (Good day, sir),” he 
said, “have you any candies for a penny?” 

“Yes, indeed, sonny,” said the shopkeeper. 
He was an American, but he understood 
Pedro’s greeting. “Here are lollypops, one 
cent each, and peppermint sticks, too. And 
here are chocolate bars for a nickel each.” 

Pedro thought a long time. Finally he 
bought two lollypops, three peppermint 
sticks, and one chocolate bar, spending 
every one of his pennies. 

Now he began to feel very hungry. So he 
sat on a bench in the Plaza under the trees 
and ate his tortillas. Then he looked in the 
bag of candies. “I will eat just one lollypop,” 
he thought, “and save the other for Lupita.” 

He sat and sucked the lollypop while he 
watched the people going by. Some were 
Americans in city clothes who talked very 
rapidly in English. Some were Spanish 
country people who stopped to speak to him. 
Pedro was sorry when Papa came for him. 

They climbed into the wagon and started 
home. Before they had gone far great black 
clouds came up and covered the blue sky. 
“We must hurry,” said Papa, “there is going 
to be a big storm.” He called to Tonio and 




LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 131 


slapped the reins over his back, but Tonio 
wouldn’t hurry very much. The sky grew 
blacker and blacker. Sheets of rain drifted 
across the distant mountains. Thunder 
crashed and bright lightning flashed across 
the sky. 

Papa made Tonio go faster. Just as they 
drove down the slope into the dry river bed, 
torrents of rain fell on them and the wind 
howled. Through the noise of wind and rain 
they heard a roaring sound. Looking up the 
river bed, they saw a stream of muddy water 
rushing down at them. 

“Get up, Tonio,” shouted Papa, and beat 
him with the reins. The old horse was fright¬ 
ened too, and scrambled over the stones as 
fast as he could. His fore feet were on the 
bank when the water hit them. It swirled 
around the wheels until the cart was almost 
swept away. But Tonio pulled hard, and 
dragged the wagon up on the bank. They 
were soaking wet and frightened, but they 
were safe! 

Suddenly their troubles were all over. The 
rain stopped and the hot sun shone out to 
warm and dry them as they drove up the hill. 

Mamacita was in the doorway and Lupita 




132 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


rushed to meet them, looking very anxious. 

“Oh, Mamacita and I were so worried. 
We were afraid you were caught in the 
river!” 

“Gracias a Dios (Thank God),” said Papa. 
“We are safe because our good Tonio pulled 
us out.” 

Papa unharnessed the old horse, who trot¬ 
ted off to the animal corral to boast of his 
adventure to Chiquito. Pedro and Lupita 
brought him big armfuls of hay for a re¬ 
ward. 

“Did you bring me a present?” asked Lu¬ 
pita shyly. 

“Oh, yes, I almost forgot to give it to 
you,” exclaimed Pedro. “See, here is a red 
lollypop and peppermint sticks, and half this 
chocolate bar.” 

“Oh, how lovely, Pedro, you are nice to 
bring me these,” laughed Lupita. 

Mamacita called them to supper. She gave 
them plates of frijoles, steaming hot. These 
are brown beans cooked in a rich sauce. 
There were tamales too, a special treat. 
Mamacita had mixed corn meal with chilis 
and cooked it in wrapped-up corn husks. 
They all loved tamales. Then she gave them 



LUPITA AND PEDRO OF NEW MEXICO 133 


cups of thick chocolate to drink, frothy and 
delicious. How good the warm food tasted 
to Papa and Pedro after their exciting day. 

After supper Papa said, smiling, “Well, 
San Juan did send us rain after all, but he 
nearly drowned us, too!” 





GEMMA 

OF LITTLE ITALY 

I T WAS never quiet on the street where 
Gemma lived. All around her was the 
bustle of a great city, with elevated 
trains roaring, taxicabs hooting, street car 
bells clanging. 

Gemma and her little brother, Dominick, 
were sitting on the fire escape, which was 
like a balcony running outside the windows 
of the rooms where her family lived. As it 


134 



GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


135 


was Saturday morning, Gemma did not have 
to go to school, but could help her mother 
and take care of five-year-old Dominick. 

Dominick was leaning over the iron rail¬ 
ing watching the street below. It was noisy 
with the shouts of men and the squeals of 
children. Above all the other noises came 
the shrill screech and clanging bell of the 
fire engine. 

“There’s a fire, Gemma,” shouted Dom¬ 
inick. Both children leaned as far over the 
railing as they dared. Down at the end of 
their block they saw the red engine dash 
across the street, going somewhere to save 
a burning building. Dozens of times a day 
the children heard the shrill clatter of the 
fire engine. But it always excited them, no 
matter how often they heard it. Whenever 
possible they ran after the engines, trying 
to see the fire. 

Gemma went on hanging up stockings she 
had just washed, on a line stretched from 
the iron railing to the house wall. Then she 
took a pitcher of water and poured it on the 
earth in the wooden boxes where vines were 
growing. All through the hot, dusty summer 
Mamma and Gemma had watered and tend- 





136 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


ed them. Now the vines were climbing far 
up the strings which Mamma had fastened 
to the sides of the window, making a screen 
of fresh leaves. 

“Hoot, hoot,” Gemma heard above all the 
other noises. That was the deep blast of a 
great steamer in the harbor, the sound she 
liked best of all. 

“There goes a big ship across the ocean,” 
said Gemma. “Maybe it’s going to Italy.” 

Often their grandmother, whom they 
called Nonna, had told them the story of 
how she and Mamma and Papa had sailed 
across the ocean in a ship from Italy to the 
great country of America. That was many 
years ago before the children were born. In 
Italy, Nonna told them, the family had lived 
in a little stone house with flowers growing 
all around it, and pots of flowers on the 
window sills. Nonna and Mamma loved 
flowers, so now that they lived in a huge 
city Mamma worked hard to have something 
green growing on the fire escape. 

“Gemma,” called Mamma from inside the 
house, “I want you to go to the store for 
me.” 

Gemma crawled in through the window. 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


137 


The rooms where the family lived were 
called a “flat” because they were all on one 
floor. Many other families lived in the same 
building. The rooms were small and rather 
dark, because all the buildings on the street 
were so high that sunlight couldn’t get in 
through the windows. 

Mamma was in the kitchen at the back of 
the house. She had been washing clothes in 
a tub attached to the wall beside the stove. 
Now she was hanging the clothes on a line 
that stretched from the kitchen window to a 
pole in the middle of the court. The court 
was enclosed with buildings. Clothes lines 
crisscrossed from the windows to poles in 
the center, and all the lines were full of 
washings from the homes of other families 
who lived in the houses around the court. 

It made Gemma very proud that she was 
trusted by Mamma to do the family market¬ 
ing. She was nine and a big girl for her age. 
Mamma gave her the money and told her 
what to buy. She spoke in Italian, for at 
home and 'on the street both children and 
parents talked in their home language. 

Gemma pulled on a bright red beret over 
her curly black head. Then she took the 




138 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


market basket and went out into the hall. 
There she met her friend Angelina, who 
lived in the other flat on that floor. Together 
they walked down the dark stairs to the 
street. 

How gay and noisy it was in the street! 
The sidewalks were crowded with people. 
All along the curbs were pushcarts heaped 
with fruit and vegetables, looking so bright 
and fresh in the gray street. The signs on 
the shop windows made music if you said 
them aloud — gelati — pasticceria — which 
meant, in Gemma’s language, ice cream and 
pastry. 

Angelina and Gemma sang and laughed 
as they skipped along, saying “hello” to 
friends they passed. On the corner they 
stopped to say “Buon Giorno” to a wrinkled 
old man who sold newspapers. 

“Buon giorno, bambinas,” he answered 
smiling, which means “Good morning, little 
ones.” 

First Gemma and Angelina went into a 
shop which sold nothing but bread. The 
baker was an Italian who made his loaves 
in many shapes and sizes just as he had 
done when he was a baker in Italy. Some 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


139 


loaves were little round fat ones, some were 
big round ones with holes in the middle, and 
others were like sticks, as long as Gemma’s 
arm. Gemma bought the long kind, not that 
it tasted any better, but because she liked 
that shape best. Angelina bought a round 
one with a hole, so that she could hang it on 
her arm. 

Then they went into Signor Lazaro’s spa¬ 
ghetti store. Here Gemma spent a long time 
trying to decide whether to buy the fat 
spaghettis with curly edges, the long thin 
ones twisted up in a nest, or the kind that 
looked like sea shells. Finally she decided 
on the shells, and Angelina bought a nest of 
spaghetti. 

Next they went around the corner to the 
cheese shop to buy a big piece of cheese for 
Mamma to grate over the spaghetti. Gem¬ 
ma loved the strong, sharp smell in that 
shop and she always spent a long time look¬ 
ing over the cheeses. At Easter and Christ¬ 
mas Signor Gennaro, the shopkeeper, carved 
figures of horses and dogs and goats and 
lambs out of cheese, which the children 
loved. 

On the way home, Gemma and Angelina 



140 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


stopped by the pushcarts to buy curly let¬ 
tuce, bananas and artichokes. Then Gemma 
had such a load to carry that she called 
Dominick, who was playing hopscotch on 
the sidewalk, to come and help her. 

Before going upstairs, Gemma went into 
Papa’s shop, which was on the ground floor 
of their building. Papa sold books and music 
and colored postcards of lakes and moun¬ 
tains in Italy. He also had big statues of 
the Virgin and of different saints. There 
were tiny figures, too, of the Virgin, the 
Baby Jesus, Saint Joseph and the shep¬ 
herds, and kings and animals. At Christ¬ 
mas time the Italian families bought these 
to make the scene of the Baby Jesus’ birth 
in their homes. 

Some of the statues and small figures 
came all the way across the ocean from Italy 
for Papa to sell. Others Papa made himself 
in a big room back of the shop. He molded 
the figures from clay and Gemma’s brother, 
Alfredo, helped him. Alfredo was ten and 
he loved to model things from clay. He 
was very clever at making animal figures. 

Gemma helped too, for she and Mamma 
painted the figures after Papa had finished 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


141 


them. This morning Papa and Alfredo were 
very busy. Papa was making saints and 
Alfredo was making goats and sheep for the 
Christmas season which would come before 
long. 

Alfredo was in the room back of the shop 
when Gemma came in. He was modeling 
some sheep and doing it very well. 

“What nice sheep you are making,” said 
Gemma. “Let me paint them when you are 
through.” 

“Yes, you can paint well enough for that, 
but be careful and don’t get their pretty 
white wool smudgy with the black from 
their feet.” 

Just then Mamma called down the stairs 
that dinner was ready. So Alfredo left his 
work and they climbed up the stairs to the 
flat above. Mamma dished up great bowls 
full of minestrone, a thick vegetable soup, 
from a brown earthenware pot. The chil¬ 
dren sprinkled it with grated cheese and 
ate bread in large hunks with it. Apples and 
bananas came next. 

As soon as dinner was over Alfredo and 
Victor, who was Angelina’s big brother, 
rushed off to join some other boys for an 




142 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


exciting game which was going on in an 
empty loft building near their home. Gem¬ 
ma and Angelina, with Dominick trailing 
behind, went to a vacant lot nearby, where 
there was a great hole in the ground be¬ 
cause a building had been torn down. The 
children were building a cave in one corner 
of the lot. Gemma brought a big piece of 
tin for one side, and Angelina a part of a 
packing box. Little Dominick came running 
from a junk heap with a piece of stove pipe 
which he had found. 

First they played they were kings and 
queens, but soon they played they were In¬ 
dians. They weren’t quite sure how queens 
and kings acted, but they thought Indians 
whooped and yelled and had war dances. 
They made so much noise that soon other 
children joined them. 

“This is our Indian tepee,” explained 
Gemma, who was learning about Indians at 
school. 

“We must have a fire outside our tepee,” 
said Angelina, so they all collected papers 
and sticks and bits of wood from piles of 
refuse waiting for the garbage collector. 

The children danced and shouted as the 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


143 


flames leaped into the air. When they had 
died down, they crouched over the embers, 
pretending they were having an Indian 
feast. 

Presently they heard Gemma's mother’s 
voice calling from the tenement house win¬ 
dow, “Gemma, Dominick.” Angelina knew 
that meant it was time for her to go home, 
too. Gemma and Dominick were glad to 
leave their “pretend” Indian feast for the 
spaghetti which Mamma had ready for 
them. How good it tasted, swimming around 
in its spicy sauce of tomato and garlic. 

Right after supper the children and all 
their friends were out in the street roam¬ 
ing up and down, even little Dominick too. 
Saturday night was such fun on their 
street! The pushcarts were still there, lit by 
gas flares or electric bulbs. One stand had 
raw oysters and clams which people bought 
and ate from the shells. An old man was 
roasting chestnuts over a little charcoal 
stove. Best of all was the sweet potato man 
with his funny tin stove on wheels. In spite 
of her spaghetti supper, Gemma bought a 
huge potato which she tossed from hand to 
hand until it was cool enough to eat. 




144 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Soon there was a sound of music down 
the street. All the children ran toward it 
shouting, “It’s the merry-go-round, the 
merry-go-round!” And so it was, a brightly 
painted little merry-go-round mounted on a 
wagon drawn by an old horse. 

“Oh, Gemma,” begged Alfredo, “please 
ask Mamma for some pennies so we can 
ride.” 

But Mamma had heard the sound of music 
too, and she came to the door of the shop 
with pennies enough for two rides apiece for 
each child. Alfredo chose a wonderful pranc¬ 
ing horse to ride, but Gemma and Dominick 
sat close together in a beautiful gilded char¬ 
iot. The old organ wheezed out tunes as 
they turned round and round. 

It was always interesting on Gemma’s 
street. But late in the autumn, when the 
time came for the festival of San Genaro, 
it was more gay than ever, for San Genaro 
was the favorite saint of the Italian people 
who lived there. Arches of electric lights in 
red, yellow, and green bulbs were suspended 
above the street for many blocks, so that it 
looked like a brightly lighted tunnel. 

The statue of San Genaro was brought out 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


145 


from his church and placed in a shrine which 
had been specially built for him. Gemma 
thought she had never seen anything so 
beautiful as the saint with festoons of elec¬ 
tric lights all around him, and a golden 
mitre on his head. Gifts of paper flowers 
and money were set before him. 

How bright the street was for several 
nights during the festival! Booths and push¬ 
carts lined the sidewalks, heaped with good 
things to eat and drink. There were piles of 
fried fish, snails and oysters, platters of 
fried cakes, and fruit drinks of many colors. 
Some stands had ticklers of fringed tissue 
paper, balloons, and confetti, which the chil¬ 
dren bought. Mamma gave Alfredo and 
Gemma enough money so that they could 
sample the cakes and drinks, too. 

There were several bands in Gemma’s 
own block. The players were seated on 
stands decorated with bunting in red, white, 
and green, the Italian national colors. When 
one band stopped playing, another began, 
so that the street was full of exciting music 
all night long. 

Nonna and Mamma and Dominick 
watched the festival from the fire escape. 




146 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


which was hung with Italian flags and elec¬ 
tric lights, but Alfredo and Gemma were in 
the street. Alfredo raced around with his 
friends, and Gemma danced along from one 
bandstand to the next. Papa was celebrat¬ 
ing with the men of his Italian Society or 
club. Most of the men on Gemma’s street 
belonged to clubs where they met to talk 
about politics or to have a social time. 

The floats of the different societies passed 
slowly along the street, with people crowd¬ 
ing close to see how fine they looked. Gem¬ 
ma and Alfredo thought that their father’s 
club had the most beautiful float of all. It 
was made to look like a ship with a bow and 
stern, masts and rigging, covered with frilly 
white crepe paper. Crinkled blue paper at 
the bottom of the ship was meant for dash¬ 
ing waves. A beautiful woman stood on the 
deck singing lovely Italian songs, while a 
man accompanied her on a guitar. As they 
passed along the woman held out a tam¬ 
bourine on the end of a long pole, and peo¬ 
ple dropped coins into it. 

The most exciting time of the festival was 
the night when there was a great procession 
in honor of San Genaro. His statue was 






























How bright the street was during the festival 


















} «« 




$ 

a 





























I 













GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


151 


taken from the shrine and carried all the 
way up the street on a float followed by 
bands of music, floats and crowds of people. 

Right after the festival it was time to get 
the store ready for Christmas. Then what a 
bustle there was to finish the figures and to 
unpack the boxes of little statues which had 
come from Italy. Many Italian people from 
all over the big city came to buy statues 
from Papa’s shop. This year Papa had said 
that Gemma might help him set up the big 
scene of the Christchild’s birth in the shop 
window. Italians call this scene of the Holy 
Family, shepherds and kings, the Presepio. 

It was the happiest day of Gemma’s life 
when she and Papa and Alfredo set up the 
Presepio in their shop window. First they 
built a hill of wood and green paper and 
imitation grass, with little paper trees set 
on it. At the top they put a little wooden 
farm house, with peasants and animals in 
the yard. On the road going down the hill 
they set the Three Kings on horseback fol¬ 
lowed by their servants. 

Down at the foot of the hill Gemma placed 
the wooden shed for the xioly Family. Very 
carefully she laid the Baby Jesus, the Bam- 





152 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


bino, in his manger, with Mother Mary on 
one side and Saint Joseph on the other. The 
donkey and cow were close by. 

Just outside the shed Alfredo arranged 
the shepherds with their sheep. Most beau¬ 
tiful of all was the brightly colored angel 
blowing a gilt horn, which they hung above 
the shed and the Bambino. Everybody who 
came along the street that Christmas season 
stopped to admire the Presepio in their win¬ 
dow, and Gemma was very proud. 

Another window was wonderful to see at 
Christmas time. That was the window of 
the shop which was labeled “Pasticceria,” 
cakes and pastries. Gemma and Angelina 
stood there a long time choosing what they 
would buy if they could have everything 
they wanted. There were bars of nougat 
candy, little crisp almond cakes, and sugary 
cakes in the shapes of stars and flowers. 
There were big cakes decorated with pic¬ 
tures in red, white, and green sugar. And 
oh, the pretty fruits and vegetables of mar¬ 
zipan, or almond paste! They were colored, 
and looked exactly like real ones. Mamma 
went into the shop and bought the cakes and 
marzipan for their Christmas feast. 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


153 


The Christmas holidays were over and 
Dominick, now that he was five, was old 
enough to go to school. So, each morning 
until he learned the way, big sister Gemma 
took him by the hand while they crossed the 
busy streets. The school house was a great 
gray building where hundreds of children 
who lived in the neighborhood were taught. 
Although most of the children were from 
Italian families, there were children of 
other races in her class. These children all 
studied the same lessons as other American 
children and they all spoke English more 
than they did their own languages. 

When spring came and school was closed 
for the day, the children often went to play 
in a little park, where there were swings 
and slides and space enough for games. 
Better than the park and the games, how¬ 
ever, they liked the afternoons when they 
went to the big Settlement House. This was 
like a children’s club house, where men and 
women taught them all sorts of interesting 
things to do. 

Of course, Alfredo, who liked to help Papa 
make clay animals, belonged to the art class, 
where he could model to his heart’s content. 




154 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Gemma, who loved music and dancing bet¬ 
ter than anything else in the world, joined 
a dancing class. 

Little Dominick liked best of all to watch 
the puppet shows which the grown-up boys 
in the Settlement sometimes gave for all the 
people in the neighborhood. How he thrilled 
as he watched the adventures of the great 
Italian hero, Orlando Furioso! When Mam¬ 
ma had come to America from Italy long 
before Gemma was born, she too had gone 
to this Settlement House to learn to speak 
English. 

Sometimes at the Settlement House, there 
were evenings of Italian songs and dances 
to which the older people in Gemma’s neigh¬ 
borhood liked to go. It made them remem¬ 
ber the happy things about their own coun¬ 
try far across the sea. Then Nonna and the 
other grandmothers brought their treas¬ 
ures to show to the children and to the vis¬ 
itors who came to visit the Settlement. There 
were pieces of embroidery and silk shawls 
and pretty costumes. Nonna had a beauti¬ 
ful costume which she used to wear at fes¬ 
tivals when she was a girl in Italy. It had a 
bright colored skirt, a black velvet bodice 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


155 


and an embroidered blouse. Nonna had 
beautiful earrings and a string of coral 
beads, too. Nonna had promised Gemma 
that when she was big enough so that the 
costume would fit, she might wear it to 
dance the Italian folk dances which the 
children were learning at the Settlement 
House. 

One warm spring day, as Gemma was 
walking home from school, she heard a 
hurdy-gurdy playing on the street. It was 
playing the lovely song Santa Lucia, which 
Nonna so often sang to her. Gemma thought 
the life of a hurdy-gurdy man must be the 
most wonderful in the world. Just think of 
walking all over the big city with nothing 
to do all day long but make music! 

“I think I’ll follow him a little while,” said 
Gemma to herself. “Then I’ll see where he 
goes.” 

Away went the hurdy-gurdy and away 
went Gemma after it. When the man 
stopped to grind out a song on his organ, 
Gemma danced in the street beside him. 

Presently they were on a wider street 
than Gemma’s own, with much bigger shops. 
Every little while the hurdy-gurdy man 





156 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


stopped and played some tunes. Then Gem¬ 
ma held out her skirt and twirled around, 
skipping and dancing and having a glorious 
time. People stopped to watch her and 
sometimes they threw pennies and nickels 
into the hurdy-gurdy man’s hat. He handed 
some of the pennies to Gemma. “Bella bam¬ 
bino,” he said, which means “pretty little 
girl,” and he smiled at her. 

They went on and on and Gemma became 
so interested in the new things she was see¬ 
ing that she forgot the hurdy-gurdy for 
awhile. When she remembered, the man 
with his organ was gone! 

Gemma was on the edge of a wide street 
where great trucks went rattling along. 
Across the street was open water. Gemma 
saw fat little boats busily steaming up and 
down, dragging strings of barges. Was this 
the great harbor where the steamboats 
came? Gemma didn’t know. 

Suddenly she felt very tired and fright¬ 
ened. It was getting dark and she was lost. 
Where, oh, where, was her safe, happy 
street? 

Gemma turned and tried to walk back the 
way she had come, but she couldn’t remem- 





GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


157 


ber which streets she had come through. 
She walked and walked until her feet ached 
and she felt empty inside from hunger. She 
was so tired that at last she sat down on a 
step and began to cry. 

In a minute she heard a deep voice say, 
“Hello, kid, what’s the matter?” 

She looked up to see a big policeman 
standing by her. He had a kind red face, so 
she wasn’t afraid of him. 

“I—I followed a hurdy-gurdy and I got 
lost,” she sobbed. 

“Well, well, that’s too bad,” said the po¬ 
liceman. “Where do you live?” 

Gemma told him the name of her street. 

“Whew!” said the policeman, “you did 
take a walk! I’ll tell you what, I’m going 
home to supper now, I’ll take you home 
first.” 

“Oh, Mister Cop, thank you,” said Gemma. 

The big man took her hand and they 
walked along together. He talked to her 
kindly, so that she almost forgot that her 
feet hurt and that she was hungry. 

After a long while they turned into a 
street and the policeman said, “Know where 
you are now, kid?” 





158 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Gemma looked around. There were the 
pushcarts and the people and ’way down the 
street was her own block! 

“Sure, now I know,” she said happily. 
“Thank you, thank you.” She was so happy 
that she hugged the policeman. 

“That’s all right, kid, but don’t follow any 
more organ grinders,” said the policeman 
as he walked away. 

Gemma raced down the street to her 
house. There, in the shop door stood Mam¬ 
ma, calling her name and crying. Gemma 
rushed to her and Mamma caught her in her 
arms. 

“Oh, bambino, mia, I thought you were 
killed,” she sobbed. But in a minute she 
began to scold Gemma in Italian, the words 
tumbling over each other, she talked so fast. 

“Oh, don’t scold me, Mamma mia,” begged 
Gemma. “I’m so tired and hungry and I’m 
sorry I followed the organ grinder. I never 
will any more.” 

Mamma kissed her and helped her up¬ 
stairs. She gave her spaghetti and salami, 
a spicy meat, with chunks of bread and 
bananas. Gemma ate it all, then she tum¬ 
bled into bed and was asleep in a minute. 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


159 


Of course, Alfredo and Victor made fun 
of Gemma for getting lost. They knew their 
way around the streets very well. But after 
her adventure Gemma thought she knew the 
city, too. 

One hot summer day, after the end of 
school, Alfredo and Victor said they were 
going to the river to swim. 

“Where is that?” asked Gemma. 

“Oh, it’s a long way off,” said Victor. “We 
went with Emanuelo last spring.” 

He was a big boy of twelve, who had 
taken the younger boys several times to the 
river. Now they knew the way by them¬ 
selves. 

“Oh, do let Angelina and me go too,” 
begged Gemma. 

“All right, you can come if you don’t 
bother us,” said Alfredo. 

The four children walked through many 
crowded, noisy streets. Sometimes Gemma 
recognized places which she had seen when 
she followed the hurdy-gurdy. After awhile 
they came to the great wide street and the 
water which Gemma had seen that day she 
was lost. Lo and behold, the water was the 
river! 




160 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


The children skipped across the street be¬ 
tween trucks and went out on a dock. Below 
the dock was a wooden platform close to the 
water where it was easy to jump in. Many 
boys were splashing in the oily water or sit¬ 
ting in the sun on the dock. 

“Oh, I want to swim too,” cried Gemma. 

“Girls can’t swim here, and besides you 
don’t know how,” said Alfredo. 

He and Victor stripped off their outer 
clothes. Underneath they wore their bath¬ 
ing suits. The boys jumped in, splashing 
and shouting with the other boys. Gemma 
and Angelina sat on the dock and watched. 

When the boys had dried themselves in 
the sun they came back. All four children 
bought drinks of lemonade from a man who 
had a little wagon with an umbrella over it. 
He was selling ice cream sandwiches, lemon¬ 
ade, and hot dogs. 

“That’s country,” said Alfredo, looking at 
the river. 

“No, it isn’t,” said Victor. “My big sister 
went to the country last year from the Set¬ 
tlement House. Country is a place with grass 
and cows, and you can walk on the grass.” 

“My cousin says country is a place where 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


161 


there’s a big round river that they let you 
swim in,” said Alfredo. 

Whichever it was, it sounded wonderful to 
Gemma. 

The next afternoon when she went to the 
Settlement House for her dancing class, her 
teacher said to her, “We are making up the 
groups to go to the country. Your turn and 
Alfredo’s comes next week, so ask your 
mother if you may go.” 

Gemma flew home with the wonderful 
news. Of course, Mamma was delighted be¬ 
cause her children were to have a trip to the 
country. Dominick cried because he was to 
be left behind, but Mamma said, “Never 
mind, your turn will come next year.” What 
a time there was getting their clothes 
washed and ironed, for they were to stay 
two whole weeks! 

At last the great day came. Very early in 
the morning Gemma was dressed in her best 
muslin dress with ruffles. Her dark curls 
were brushed and fluffy. She wore white 
socks and black slippers. Alfredo wore his 
best trousers and a shirt with a new necktie. 

They said good-bye to the family and 
went off to the Settlement House, carrying 




162 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


their clothes in cloth bags. All the children 
who were to go on the trip arrived at the 
same time. It was so early that the teach¬ 
ers were not up yet. The woman who cleaned 
the rooms let them in and told them to wait 
quietly in a room while the teachers had 
breakfast. 

But keeping still was impossible for the 
excited children. They chattered and 
laughed and jumped about, until it sounded 
like hundreds of children instead of fifty. 

At last the teachers were ready and the 
big bus was in front of the door. The chil¬ 
dren took their bundles and scrambled in. 
The bus carried them to the great wide 
river, which they were to cross on a ferry. 

“Is country across the river?” asked Al¬ 
fredo. 

The teacher laughed. “There is lots of 
country in the world, Alfredo,” she said. 
“You are going to a big camp on the other 
side of the river. Don’t you think it will be 
fun to sleep in tents and swim in a great 
big lake?” 

Gemma’s eyes grew wide with excitement. 
She didn’t know about tents, but swimming 
sounded wonderful. 




GEMMA OF LITTLE ITALY 


163 


When they reached the dock there was the 
ferry boat waiting to take them. Gemma 
and Alfredo grasped their bundles and hur¬ 
ried on board with all their friends. They 
found another group on the boat, which had 
come from another settlement house. 

Pretty soon the boat’s whistle gave a 
blast, “Toot, toot,” and the ferry began to 
move away from the dock into the blue 
water. A great roar rose from all the chil¬ 
dren. 

“Hurray, hurray,” they cried. 

Then they all rushed to the front of the 
boat to watch for the country. 










NILS 

SWEDISH FARM BOY 


ILS went whistling down the path to 



the barn where his pet calf, Buddy, 


-L ™ was waiting for breakfast. He 
mixed a pan of feed and set it in the barn¬ 
yard. Then he went to the calf’s stall. “Hi, 
Buddy,” he called, “here’s your breakfast.” 

The calf’s white face wore a mild, friend¬ 
ly look as he gazed at his master. Nils led 
him out into the barnyard and walked him 
up and down a few times. Then, while the 


164 


NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


165 


calf ate his feed, Nils combed his reddish 
coat with a curry comb. Buddy did not look 
like an ordinary calf. He had a broad back, 
fat sides and very short legs. He was the 
kind of animal known in the cattle-raising 
country as “baby beef.” He was not treated 
like an ordinary animal, either. For Nils 
expected to exhibit him in a cattle show 
when he grew older. 

While Nils was combing Buddy, his little 
sister, Ingeborg, came along and leaned 
over the barnyard gate. 

“How’s Buddy?” she asked. 

“He’s coming on fine,” said Nils, “see how 
fat he’s getting.” 

“Oh, I do hope he’ll take a prize when he’s 
grown,” said Ingeborg. 

“You bet he’ll take a prize,” said the calf’s 
master proudly. 

Just then they heard big sister Elsa call 
from the house that their breakfast was 
ready. Nils led Buddy back to his stall. 
Then he and Ingeborg ran up the path in 
the bright spring sunshine to the white farm 
house which was their home. 

In the big kitchen, very clean and tidy, 
Mother was bustling from the shining black 




166 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


stove to the table spread with a white cloth, 
setting out bowls of oatmeal and plates of 
flapjacks. Father had just come out from 
milking with a pail of fresh, foamy milk. 

The children hurried through breakfast, 
for it was almost time to meet the school 
bus. During breakfast the family chatted 
together in Swedish, their home language, 
although the children sometimes switched to 
English when they spoke to each other. 

Nils, Elsa, and Ingeborg gathered to¬ 
gether their school books and lunches and 
started down the road to the highway where 
the school bus would pick them up. In a few 
minutes it came along and they clambered 
in. Then the bus rolled on, picking up other 
children from the farms scattered along the 
way. The road went through a broad flat 
country of great fields, which were squares 
of bright green where the corn, wheat, and 
alfalfa were springing up. 

Soon they reached the central school, a 
big brick building with playgrounds around 
it. School days were busy and happy, for, 
besides ordinary lessons, there was shop- 
work for the boys and cooking and sewing 
for the girls. Some of the children, like Nils 




NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


167 


and his sisters, were new Americans. Their 
fathers had come from Sweden, Norway, 
and other European countries to become 
farmers in the middle western part of our 
country. Others belonged to families which 
had been Americans away back to their 
great-great-grandfathers. But the children 
were all little Americans together, enjoying 
the same work and play. 

After school, Nils went with some of his 
friends to a meeting of their club. Nils loved 
the club, for not only did the boys have such 
a good time at their meetings, but they were 
doing interesting work. They were learning 
how to be scientific farmers. All the boys 
and girls of the farm country belonged to 
4H clubs. The four H’s stood for “clear 
Head, clean Heart, trained Hands, good 
Health.” In the clubs the boys, and some¬ 
times girls, learned the best ways to raise 
cattle, sheep, and hogs and how to grow 
corn and wheat. 

Nils’ club was a Baby Beef Club. Each of 
the boys was raising a calf which he hoped 
would be a prize winner and which later on 
would sell for a good price. That afternoon 
their leader, a young man trained in the 




168 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Agricultural College, gave them a talk on 
the proper feeding of their calves. Nils was 
all attention. He was ten, just old enough 
to join the club, and Buddy was the first calf 
he had undertaken to raise. 

After the meeting Nils walked a long way 
by country roads to the farm. Home looked 
very cosy to him as he saw the farmhouse 
across the fields. The clump of trees beside 
it was bursting into new leaves and the 
fields were green with the new crops. Be¬ 
hind the house were the tall silo, windmill 
and the broad red barn. 

When Nils came into the kitchen, the table 
was set for supper. Mother, in her gingham 
dress and stiff white apron, looked as clean 
and fresh as the room. She was filling a 
platter with pork and dried peas cooked 
Swedish fashion. 

“Hurray,” cried Nils. “I see we’re having 
Swedish Thursday night supper.” 

“Oh, yummy,” shouted Ingeborg, who had 
just come in from play. She ran over to the 
sink to wash her hands. 

When they were all seated, they folded 
their hands while Father said grace. Then 
Nils began to tell his father all he had 




NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


169 


learned that afternoon about the care of 
calves. Father had rather old-fashioned 
ways of farming, learned in Europe. But 
he was always ready to listen to the new 
ideas Nils brought home. 

While Elsa cleared away the plates, Moth¬ 
er began to cook thin crisp pancakes called 
plattar. This was the special dessert that 
belonged with pork and peas for Swedish 
Thursday night supper. “We will put lingon 
berries on these pancakes,” said Mother. 
The pancakes tasted so good that the chil¬ 
dren kept begging for more, until Mother 
said that was enough for one meal. 

Then each of the children got up, shook 
hands first with Mother, then with Father, 
making a little bow, and said in Swedish, 
“Thanks for food.” Mother and Father had 
been brought up to thank their parents 
after each meal, so they liked to have their 
children continue the old custom. 

When supper was over, Nils dashed down 
to the barn to give Buddy his evening feed¬ 
ing and exercise. He led the calf around 
the barnyard and out into the field, letting 
him eat a little of the new grass. 

“How I wish I could take you to the State 



170 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Fair this summer, Buddy, old fellow,” he 
said, as he led the calf back to the barn. 
He rubbed his nose and tweaked his ear af¬ 
fectionately by way of saying good night. 

The next evening at supper the children 
were talking about Easter which was com¬ 
ing in two days. 

“You know, Mother, we do need new 
spring hats,” said Elsa. 

“Yes, I’ve been thinking of that,” said 
Mother, “and I’ve been saving the egg 
money to buy them.” Then, turning to Fa¬ 
ther, she said, “Don’t you think we might 
all have a holiday tomorrow afternoon to 
do a little shopping in town?” 

“Well, I think it will be all right,” an¬ 
swered Father. “There’s a farmer’s meeting 
I want to go to, anyway.” 

So, on Saturday morning, they were all 
up even earlier than the usual time for a 
farmer’s family. If they were to have a 
holiday, each one had a great deal of extra 
work to get through with in the morning. 

Ingeborg fed the chickens and collected 
all the eggs. She and Mother were going to 
sell them to the grocer in town that after¬ 
noon. Ingeborg would have part of the 



NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


171 


money for her own, for she took entire care 
of the chickens. 

Nils drove the cows into the pasture and 
fed the pigs. Then he went to work with his 
father in the fields until dinner time. 

Elsa was busy in the kitchen, helping 
Mother clean and cook. Mother was mak¬ 
ing delicious little cakes for Easter, and 
Swedish coffee bread. She braided the 
dough, putting in raisins and sprinkling it 
with sugar and cinnamon before baking it. 
How good it smelled coming out of the oven! 

When the cooking was finished, Mother 
and Elsa came out to plant flower seeds 
around the porch and in the beds they had 
made in the lawn. The sun was so warm 
that green things were growing. Daffodils 
were sprouting beside the porch, and next 
to them were the young hollyhock plants. 
Leaves were beginning to show on the rose 
and honeysuckle vines which climbed over 
the porch. 

“Isn’t it going to look pretty here this 
summer!” said Elsa. 

“Yes,” replied Mother, smiling at the neat 
flower beds. “I do like to have a lot of flow¬ 
ers around the house.” 




172 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


After dinner Father brought out the ear 
and they all climbed in for a ride to town. 
When they arrived, it seemed that many 
other families were taking a holiday, too, 
for Main Street was lined with cars, station 
wagons, and a few buggies. 

Mother took Ingeborg and Elsa into a 
shop to buy their spring hats. “Hello,” came 
the greeting from a group of girls in the 
shop, and there were some of their friends 
from school—Ingeborg’s best friend, Mary, 
and chums of Elsa’s, too. They all had a 
beautiful time choosing Easter hats. 

“Let’s get a soda and go to the movies, 
Ingeborg,” said Mary, when the shopping 
was finished. 

“May I, Mother?” asked Ingeborg. 

“As soon as we sell the eggs,” said Moth¬ 
er. So off they went to Mr. Gannon, the 
grocer, who was always glad ,to get their 
good fresh eggs. 

“Well, Ingeborg,” he said, “how are the 
hens laying?” 

“Pretty well, Mr. Gannon,” said Ingeborg. 
“We have a lot of eggs for you.” 

When Mr. Gannon had paid for the eggs, 
Mother gave Ingeborg her share of the egg 




NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


173 


money. Ingeborg hurried off with Mary for 
the rare treat of a soda and a movie. Elsa, 
too, had disappeared with her friends. 

In the drug store, the girls saw Nils and 
his friend, Lars, seated at the soda foun¬ 
tain. They were eating banana splits heaped 
with whipped cream and topped off with a 
dash of fudge sauce. 

“My, that looks good,” said Ingeborg. 

“Too good for girls,” answered Nils, grin¬ 
ning. So, of course, Mary and Ingeborg im¬ 
mediately ordered the same. 

Lars was a tall boy, two years older than 
Nils. They belonged to the same club, and 
were comparing the good points of their pet 
calves. 

“I tell you what,” said Lars. “I’ll ask my 
folks to drive over to your house tomorrow. 
Then you can show me Buddy.” 

“Okay, that’s fine,” answered Nils. 

As soon as the girls had left the drug 
store Nils said, “I saw there was a Western 
at the movie house. What do you say we go, 
too?” 

“All right, let’s,” said Lars, and off they 
dashed. 

At six o’clock the children returned to the 




174 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


car and found Father and Mother already 
waiting for them. Farmers’ families had to 
get home early, as there were chores to be 
done. Then, too, they were looking forward 
to the special egg supper which Mother al¬ 
ways gave them on Easter Eve. She called 
it by its Swedish name, egg sexa. 

It was almost like a picnic supper and the 
children loved it. They helped to set the 
table and put on the dishes of food. There 
was a big bowl of hard-boiled eggs, a plate 
of pickled herring with slices of onion, and 
other dishes of herring and anchovy fixed 
in various ways. 

Then there were several kinds of cheese 
and big round knackebrod, a Swedish bread 
which was flat and hard, but tasted so good. 
They all drank coffee, for Swedish people 
are very fond of it and have it with every 
meal. Indeed, Mother kept a pot of coffee 
on the stove all the time so that she could 
offer it to anyone who came to the house. 

Next morning everyone was delighted to 
find the sun shining—a warm, bright Easter 
day with the birds singing. Ingeborg sang 
as she went about her morning work. The 
whole family dressed in Sunday clothes and 




NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


175 


Mother and the girls put on their new spring 
hats to go to church. 

They drove into town again to the Swedish 
church. The children attended a class where 
the preacher taught them to read the Bible 
in Swedish, and then they attended the long 
service in the church. The church was dec¬ 
orated with lilies for Easter and looked very 
pretty. But the children were glad when 
they could get out into the sunshine again. 

After dinner the family were sitting on 
the porch enjoying the warm day, when a 
car drove into the yard. 

“Oh, good,” cried Nils, when he saw that 
the visitors were Lars and his family. “Lars 
said they might come.” He and Ingeborg 
rushed down to the car to greet the guests. 

“How glad I am to have company on 
Easter day,” said Mother, “and I have fresh 
coffee bread all ready.” 

Lars’ family was also Swedish, but they 
lived so far away that they could not visit 
Nils’ family very often. After Mother had 
greeted them, she took them into the parlor, 
which was opened only when someone came 
to call. The only thing about this room 
which was different from any farm parlor 




176 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


was an embroidered tapestry of a Swedish 
landscape which Mother had made when she 
was a girl. Lars’ mother said it made her 
feel homesick for the old country. 

Elsa and Ingeborg helped Mother prepare 
the coffee party. They spread a lace-edged 
cloth on the parlor table and set out the best 
china cups. Those and the silver coffee pot 
were Mother’s dearest possessions which she 
had brought from Sweden. The pot was 
filled with steaming coffee, and Mother 
brought in the sugary coffee bread and a 
plate of cakes. It was a great event for her 
to have guests. 

Everyone enjoyed the party, but before 
long the two fathers went out to walk about 
the farm and discuss crops. Soon Lars and 
Nils excused themselves, too, for they want¬ 
ed to look at Buddy. Nils brought the calf 
out into the barnyard and led him around 
while Lars looked him over critically. Lars 
felt his legs and patted his sides. 

“He’s doing fine,” he said knowingly. 
Lars had raised two calves, so he thought 
he was an expert cattleman. 

“Last year my Mike was the same age as 
Buddy,” he went on. “I took him to the 




NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


177 


State Fair and he won second prize in the 
4H Club exhibits.” 

“Jiminy!” exclaimed Nils. “Do you sup¬ 
pose Buddy would take a prize?” 

“I bet he would. Why don’t you get your 
father to let you take him to the State Fair? 
It’s lots of fun at the Fair, too.” 

“Oh, I do want to show Buddy this sum¬ 
mer, when I’ve worked so hard on him,” 
said Nils. “I don’t know if Dad would let me, 
though. It would cost a lot of money and 
it is so far away.” 

That evening after the guests were gone, 
Nils sat down beside his father who was 
reading a farm paper. 

“Father,” he said, “did you ever go to the 
State Fair?” 

“Not yet, son,” said his father, looking 
up from his paper. 

“But don’t you think we ought to look 
over the cattle there, Father?” asked Nils. 
“You know we have some good cattle now 
and we are going to buy more when we 
can. Besides, Buddy might win a prize if 
we took him. Some of the boys in my club 
are going to show their calves at the State 
Fair.” 





178 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Father rubbed his head and looked 
thoughtful. “Don’t you think you are a 
little young to take part in a cattle show?” 
he asked, but Nils saw a twinkle in his eye. 

“Oh, no,” he said. “There’s another boy 
ten years old who is going to show his calf.” 

“Well, you can’t begin too young to be a 
good farmer, I suppose,” said Father. “If 
we don’t lose a lot of money before Fair 
time, I think we’ll go. I’d better keep up 
with the times or my son will be a better 
cattle man than I am, eh?” 

He gave Nils a friendly pat. “Thanks, 
Dad,” said Nils, happily. He went off to 
bed with his head in a whirl, and dreamed 
that Buddy had won a blue ribbon. 

When Nils announced to his sisters that 
Father would take him to the State Fair to 
exhibit Buddy, they were speechless with 
surprise and envy. 

“You do have all the luck, Nils,” said 
twelve-year-old Elsa, after a moment. “I 
want to see the State Fair, too. Lots of the 
Club girls are going.” 

Elsa belonged to a club as well as Nils. 
All winter the girls had been learning to 
make dresses for themselves, but now they 



NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


179 


were studying the best ways to can fruit and 
vegetables. Elsa was eagerly waiting for 
things to ripen in the garden so that she 
could begin practicing what she had learned. 
Ingeborg, being only eight, had to wait two 
years before she could join a club. 

One Saturday morning in June, Nils and 
Ingeborg were up in the cherry trees pick¬ 
ing fruit for Elsa to can. “Hi, Ingeborg,” 
called Nils, “if you eat so many, you’ll burst, 
and besides there won’t be any left for Elsa 
to can.” 

“I’m not eating many,” shouted Ingeborg, 
“but they are so good. Anyway, my basket’s 
full.” She began to climb carefully down 
the ladder with her basket. 

Just as she reached the ground, a car 
stopped in the road before the house. 
“There’s the mail man,” she cried, and flew 
down the path to meet him. 

“I hope there’ll be a new mail order cata¬ 
log,” she thought. The farm children loved 
to pore over the lists and pictures in the 
catalog, choosing what they would order 
from Chicago as soon as they had some 
money. 

There was no catalog—just Father’s farm 




180 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


paper and one letter addressed to Mother. 
It had a foreign stamp on it which Ingeborg 
recognized. She ran up the path to the 
kitchen door, crying, “A letter from Sweden, 
Mother.” 

Mother came out and sat on the porch 
steps to read it, while Elsa and Ingeborg 
hung over her shoulder. In a moment she 
looked up, smiling happily. 

“It’s from my little sister, your Aunt 
Helga,” she said. “And what do you think? 
She wants to come and visit us. She wants 
to see America and if she likes it, she may 
stay.” 

“Oh, how lovely,” cried Ingeborg, skip¬ 
ping around the porch. 

“What does Aunt Helga look like? How 
old is she?” asked Elsa, eagerly. 

Mother sighed. “I haven’t seen my little 
sister for fifteen years,” she said. “That 
was when I left Sweden to come to marry 
Father here. You know, he came first, to 
get the farm started. Helga was ten years 
old then—such a pretty little girl with long 
yellow curls and blue eyes. Ingeborg looks 
like her.” 

“And now she’s a young lady,” said Elsa. 




NILS, SWEDISH FAEM BOY 


181 


“Does she wear clothes like that Swedish 
dress of yours with cap and apron that’s 
in the trunk in the attic?” 

“Only for special occasions, I think,” said 
Mother. “Though we used to wear the cos¬ 
tume most of the time when I was young.” 

“Oh, goodness,” cried Elsa, suddenly, “I 
forgot the cherries.” 

She ran into the kitchen where a pot of 
cherries was cooking on the stove. For a 
little while she had to stop thinking about 
Aunt Helga and put all her attention on 
getting the cherries into the glass jars wait¬ 
ing for them. 

“We must shell the peas for dinner, Inge- 
borg,” said Mother. She brought the basket 
of peas and some shiny tin pans and the two 
sat down on the steps to shell them. 

“Tell me about Aunt Helga and you in 
Sweden,” begged Ingeborg, as her fingers 
popped the peas out of their shells. 

“Well, we were all busy on the farm over 
there, just as we are here,” said Mother. 
“Girls in Sweden are trained to sew and 
cook and weave, besides learning to manage 
the farm work. My mother taught me to 
weave woolen cloth for my skirts and bright 




182 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


striped cloth for my aprons. Then I taught 
Helga to weave as soon as she was big 
enough to sit at the loom. 

“We learned to do beautiful embroidery, 
too, some for our dresses and some for 
wall hangings, like my tapestry in the 
parlor. I made all that costume of mine, 
you know, except the little shawl. Then I 
made a dress and apron and cap for Helga. 
She looked so pretty in them. We had to go 
to cooking school, too. Helga was just be¬ 
ginning when I left home. So I am glad that 
Elsa learns sewing and canning in her club,” 
Mother went on. “It’s different from the ways 
of the old country, but she will be a well- 
trained girl just the same. And so will you, 
too, Ingeborg, in a few years.” 

“But it must take lots and lots of time to 
weave cloth and embroider and do all those 
things,” said Ingeborg. 

“Yes, indeed,” answered Mother, “but 
somehow there was more time over there. 
And then there were the long cold winters 
when there was not much to do except work 
in the house.” 

The hot summer days went on, very busy 
ones at the farm. Mother and Elsa were 



NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


183 


canning and preserving, while Ingeborg 
helped gather and prepare the vegetables 
and fruits for them. As for Nils, he looked 
after Buddy as if his calf were a precious 
child. He fed him all the special foods which 
would make him strong and fat. His coat 
was combed every day and sometimes Nils 
washed him. 

Every day the children said, “Soon Aunt 
Helga will be here.” Finally a letter came, 
saying that she had landed in New York 
and would be with them in a few days. Fa¬ 
ther drove into town to meet her at the train 
on the day she was to arrive, taking Nils 
along. 

While they were gone Mother and the girls 
set the supper table with the best china. 
Mother had made the children’s favorite 
Swedish dessert, fruktsopa, or fruit soup. 
It was made of raisins, apricots, prunes, and 
apples, stewed with a little tapioca and cin¬ 
namon, and was eaten cold. “This will make 
Aunt Helga feel at home in the new coun¬ 
try,” said Mother. 

They heard the car drive in, and all ran 
out to meet the guest. Aunt Helga was 
blonde and pretty and gay. She wore clothes 




184 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


like anyone else, Ingeborg noticed with dis¬ 
appointment. At supper Mother and Father 
talked so fast in Swedish with Aunt Helga 
that the children had to strain their ears to 
understand it all. 

Then afterwards, when everything was 
cleared away, they all went into the parlor. 
Aunt Helga opened her bags and began to 
take out presents. Such bright pretty 
things! Embroidered bags for Elsa and 
Ingeborg, and the gayest mittens they had 
ever seen, embroidered with flowers. There 
was a sash in lovely colors for Elsa, which 
Aunt Helga had woven herself. 

Nils received a cap, scarf, and mittens of 
bright green wool, “like the boys wear in 
Sweden for skiing,” explained Aunt Helga. 
Nils liked them, but was glad they were in 
a plain color. The boys would certainly 
tease him if he appeared in mittens as gay 
as the girls. Father received a pipe of beau¬ 
tifully carved wood, and for Mother there 
was a copper kettle and a woven couch 
cover. 

Then Aunt Helga took out one more pack¬ 
age. “And now,” she said, “I’ve brought 
Ingeborg my own little girl costume, be- 



NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


185 


cause she is just the right size for it.” 

“Oh,” said Mother, when it was un¬ 
wrapped, “it is the very one I made for 
you.” 

“Indeed it is,” said Aunt Helga, “I’ve 
saved it all these years for your little girl.” 

How pretty it was! The skirt was of black 
wool, with an embroidered bodice and white 
blouse. There was a green apron with red 
stripes across it, and a little flowered shawl 
and cap. Ingeborg took the dress in her 
arms and danced around the room joyously. 

“Put it on, Ingeborg,” said Aunt Helga. 

“Mother,” cried Elsa, “why don’t you put 
on your costume too. Didn’t you bring yours 
too, Aunt Helga?” 

“Of course I did,” laughed Aunt Helga. 
“Let’s all dress up and be Swedish girls.” 

When they came back in the pretty cos¬ 
tumes, Father, Nils and Elsa clapped and 
cheered, they looked so fine. Mother and 
Aunt Helga had bright striped aprons over 
their black skirts and little shawls like Inge- 
borg’s. Mother’s cap was white because she 
was married, but Aunt Helga’s was red. 

Aunt Helga began to sing old Swedish 
songs, some with sad tunes and some quite 



186 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


merry. In a minute Mother took down her 
old guitar which hung on the parlor wall and 
began to strum on it while she joined in the 
songs. The children had never seen their 
mother so gay and lively. They listened to 
the songs until they, too, could hum the 
tunes and sing a few of the words. Then 
Aunt Helga jumped up and took Mother’s 
hands. “Come on, Ingrid,” she cried, “you 
haven’t forgotten our dances, have you?” 

And there was Mother dancing back and 
forth with Aunt Helga while they hummed 
a little tune. How the family clapped and 
cheered to see Mother dance! 

“Now, Ingeborg, little Swedish girl,” said 
Aunt Helga, “I’ll show you how to dance.” 
While Mother strummed the guitar, Aunt 
Helga showed Ingeborg the steps. Soon Elsa 
tied on Mother’s apron and joined in. 

“Now we must have a coffee party,” said 
Mother, and she went to the kitchen to make 
a pot of coffee. While they drank the coffee, 
and ate braided sugary bread, Aunt Helga 
told them stories about Sweden. Never was 
there such a party! “It seems as though we 
had been on a trip to Sweden,” said Nils 
when they said good night. 




NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


187 


Aunt Helga was delighted with everything 
on the farm. She admired the big red barn 
and silo. “My, what a big country it is!” 
she said. “Why, these fields just stretch 
away forever.” 

Nils showed her Buddy, for Aunt Helga 
understood about cattle. 

“Tell me about this State Fair he’s going 
to,” she said to Nils and Elsa. “We have 
fairs in Sweden, too, you know.” So Nils 
and Elsa told her all they had learned from 
their friends about the wonders of the Fair. 

“I want to go to the Fair, too,” cried Aunt 
Helga, clapping her hands like a child. 

“Well, well,” said Father. “Maybe we 
could all go.” 

“What!” exclaimed Mother. “Travel so 
far and stay away two nights?” 

“Listen, Mother,” said Elsa, “it wouldn’t 
cost much. We could take along a couple 
of tents to sleep in. There are camp grounds 
around the Fair, you know. Last year my 
friend Jane went with her family and they 
stayed in the tent and had a wonderful 
time.” 

After many family councils it was decided 
that they should all go. Father said he 




188 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


would get the hired man at the next farm 
to feed the animals for a couple of days. 
Mother began to plan what food to take. 
There was so much to do that the time fair¬ 
ly flew until the day of departure came. 

Buddy was to travel in a truck with a calf 
from a neighboring farm, and Nils went 
along with him. The rest of the family got 
into the car, with the tents and a big basket 
of picnic food. They started at dawn for it 
was a long day’s ride to the city where the 
State Fair was held. 

It was dark when they reached the city 
and the Fair grounds. The place looked like 
fairyland with the thousands of electric 
lights strung around the Fair buildings and 
the lighted towers against the sky. As soon 
as Buddy was safely in his stall, Father and 
Nils set up the tents in a grove where many 
other farmers’ families were camping. They 
finished the food in the picnic basket and 
then rolled up in the blankets and went to 
sleep. 

The next day the calves and steers raised 
by the boys and girls of the 4H clubs were 
to be shown and judged. Nils was off early 
in the morning to look after Buddy and pre- 



NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


189 


pare him to be shown. He found some of his 
club friends with their calves at the stalls. 

The animals were to be exhibited in a big 
arena surrounded with tiers of seats which 
were packed with people. Bands were play¬ 
ing and there was a great deal of stir and 
shouting. Nils stood with his friends while 
steers and heifers and calves were shown by 
the boys and girls who had raised them. 
Some of his friends were called, and Nils 
felt more frightened every minute. 

When his turn came, his heart beat as 
though it would jump out of him. But Nils 
wouldn’t show his fear. Not he! If he was 
big enough to bring a calf to the State Fair, 
he was not going to be too scared to show 
him. 

He led Buddy out into the arena and put 
him through the positions in which he had 
been training him for months. Buddy be¬ 
haved beautifully and didn’t balk once. Up 
in the grandstand the family was watching. 
How proud they were to see Nils managing 
his calf so well! Ingeborg wanted to jump 
up and shout, “That’s my brother.” 

The judges came to look over the animals 
and Buddy did not flick an ear while they 




190 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


examined him. They went away to consult 
and presently came back to announce the 
prizes. The first prize for a baby beef calf 
went to a big boy in Nils’ own club, who 
had been raising calves for many years. 
Then, lo and behold, Nils’ name was called, 
and he was given the second prize for 
Buddy! 

When the announcements were over one 
of the judges made a little speech praising 
the good work the boys and girls had done. 
Nils’ club received special mention because 
the boys had raised two prize-winning 
calves, and because the second of those 
prizes had been won by a boy only ten years 
old on his first calf! 

All the people in the grandstand clapped 
when the judge had finished. Some even 
cheered and Elsa and Ingeborg stood up and 
shouted too. When Nils led his calf back to 
the stalls he felt as if he were walking on 
air. “Attaboy, Buddy!” he said to the calf. 

Soon the family came in search of Nils, 
and they all stood around patting and ad¬ 
miring Buddy. Best of all, though, was when 
Father shook hands with Nils, just as if he 
were a man, and said, “Good work, son.” 



NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


191 


Now that the important business of ex¬ 
hibiting Buddy was over, they all went off 
to enjoy the wonders of the Fair. Aunt 
Helga thought it was glorious and the chil¬ 
dren were on tiptoe with excitement. Bands 
were playing, crowds of people streamed 
past the tents and buildings, where all sorts 
of farm work was being exhibited. 

Farther on were side shows where men 
shouted to them to come in and see the two- 
headed calf, the bearded lady and other 
marvels. They stopped to buy orangeade 
and pink popcorn. Father and Nils tried 
their skill at shooting clay ducks in the 
shooting gallery. 

Presently Father said he would treat the 
whole family to supper in a restaurant to 
celebrate Nils’ prize. They had a splendid 
feast ordering all the dishes that they never 
had at home. 

When they came out of the restaurant it 
was evening, but the Fair grounds were all 
ablaze with lights, and fireworks soared up 
to the sky. Against the sky they saw a great 
iron framework, all loops and curves out¬ 
lined in lights. 

“What’s that?” asked Aunt Helga. 




192 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“It must be the roller coaster,” said Elsa 
who had heard about it from her friend, 
Jane. 

“Can you ride on it?” asked Nils. 

“Of course you can,” said Elsa, “let’s all 
go.” 

Aunt Helga agreed at once and soon per¬ 
suaded Father and Mother to come too. So 
they all got aboard the little cars. The cars 
began to move and rode slowly up the steep 
slope, right into the sky, Nils thought. They 
could see the lighted buildings below them. 

Nils’ car reached the top, and suddenly 
shot over the edge and down towards the 
earth at a terrific speed. Nils grabbed the 
bar in front of him and thought he was 
surely going to fall off, but it was thrilling 
anyway. 

The children shrieked with terror and de¬ 
light, while the cars rushed down, then shot 
up into the sky again, and round dizzy cor¬ 
ners so fast that they all hung on to the 
sides to keep from tumbling out. Then at 
last they slowed down and stopped at the 
place from which they had started. 

Everyone got out, feeling a little shaky 
in the legs and laughing over their fright. 







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Nils' car shot down toward the earth 























NILS, SWEDISH FARM BOY 


195 


“Gee,” said Nils, “that’s the best fun I 
ever had. Let’s ride again.” 

“No,” said Mother, firmly. “Once is 
enough. We must all go to bed now, for we 
have to start for home before dawn tomor¬ 
row.” 

Back at the tent, Nils snuggled down in 
his blankets with all sorts of visions dancing 
in his head. “I’ll buy another calf with the 
prize money,” he thought. “When I’m 
grown up I’ll have a whole herd of fine cattle 
and make lots of money. But next year, 
Buddy’s going to take first prize.” And with 
that he fell asleep. 








RENE AND MADELAINE 
OF LOUISIANA 

M ADELAINE felt very grown-up 
helping Maman bake the cakes for 
the New Year feast. Although she 
was only eight she was learning from her 
mother the French ways of cooking. When 
Maman was a little girl she had learned to 
cook from her mother, who was now Made- 
lame’s grand’mere (grandmother). Made¬ 
line’s five-year-old sister Marie had her 


196 





RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 197 


share too. She sat on a stool in the corner 
shelling- pecan nuts for the cakes and 
candies. They were making a great many 
good things to eat, not only for themselves, 
but for New Year gifts to their friends. 

The kitchen was a big room, very neat, 
with a row of cooking pots hanging on the 
wall. There was a hot fire in the wood stove, 
so that the cakes would bake well. 

New Year’s Day is more important than 
Christmas to French people. Everyone in 
the family was excited over the beautiful 
holiday which was coming the very next 
day. Nine-year-old brother Rene brought 
in logs for the fireplace. Father had killed 
a suckling pig and a duck for the feast. 
Even Grand’mere, old and bent though she 
was, could sweep and dust the rooms. 

Early on the morning of New Year’s Day 
Madelaine ran out on the gallery, as they 
called the porch, to see if it was a nice day. 
The air was soft and warm, and the sun 
shone mistily. Madelaine saw the flaming 
red blossoms of a big poinsettia bush 
against the white wall of their low house. 
A path ran down to a wide creek which is 
called a bayou in Louisiana. On each side of 




198 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the path a japonica bush was full of waxy 
white and red blossoms. A breeze stirred 
the streamers of gray moss which hung 
from the branches of a live oak tree beside 
the house. 

“Oh, Martian,” cried Madelaine, running 
into the kitchen, “it fait beau temps 
aujourd’hui," which means, “it is a fine day 
today.” Then she added, “May I take the 
New Year gifts now?” 

“Here is the basket, cherie,” said Maman. 
“Wish our neighbors a very Happy New 
Year.” 

In the basket were pretty little packets 
of cakes and candies. Madelaine took it and 
went singing along the path between the 
fields to the neighbors’ houses. At each door 
she knocked and called, “Bonne Annee, mes 
amis!” The friends opened the door and 
cried “Bonne Annee” to her, which is Happy 
New Year in French. They were all pleased 
with the gifts, and at each house the mother 
of the family gave Madelaine presents of 
jelly or cake to take home. 

When Madelaine returned to her house 
there was a great bustle in the kitchen, pre¬ 
paring for the New Year feast. A whole 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 199 


family of cousins were to be their guests. 
Grand’mere, who was the best cook of all, 
was looking after the roasting of the pig 
and duck. Maman had set the table in the 
living room with the best white cloth. The 
room looked very pretty, with stiff white cur¬ 
tains at the windows and a bright rug on the 
floor, which Grand’mere herself had woven. 

Presently all the family dressed in their 
best to receive the guests. Maman and 
Grand’mere wore plain black silk dresses. 
Papa and Rene were in their best store 
clothes. Madelaine had a new red silk dress 
made by Maman, and Marie a blue one. 

Pretty soon a wagon drove up full of 
cousins. Then what shouts there were of 
“Bonne Annee!” And what a chatter of 
French talk! At last they were all seated 
around the table loaded with good food. The 
little whole pig, crisp and brown, with an 
apple in his mouth, was the finest sight on 
the table to the boys and girls. 

After dinner friends came in to call, 
bringing gifts and New Year wishes. If any¬ 
one, old or young, had quarreled with some¬ 
one else, they made friends that afternoon 
for the New Year. 




200 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


What a happy time of year this was for 
the children! Just a few days after New 
Year, on January sixth, came the Jour des 
Rois, or Day of the Kings, a holiday in honor 
of the Three Kings who brought gifts to 
the Baby Jesus. 

Maman baked a special big round cake 
into which she had stirred a fat bean. At 
supper time the cake was brought out. Lit¬ 
tle Marie, being the youngest, was given a 
knife to cut a piece for each one of the fam¬ 
ily. A part of each piece was put aside “for 
God,” which meant that it would be given 
to anyone who came to the door asking for 
food. Each one ate his share quickly to see 
if he would get the bean and be king of the 
feast. They were all glad when Grand’mere 
found the bean in her piece of cake. Then 
they all drank her health and shouted 
“Le roi boit” or “The king drinks.” 

Sometimes school began again right after 
the Day of the Kings, sometimes before. 
But Bene and Madelaine liked their school 
so it did not matter. They walked into the 
village of St. Martinville to a little school- 
house where lessons and work were made 
as interesting as play. It was an American 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 201 


school and all their lessons were in English. 
So they spoke English as well as French. 
Some of their companions were English- 
speaking children, others were the children 
of French farmers like themselves. But 
they all played happily together. 

At home, when winter evenings were 
rainy and chilly, the whole family gathered 
around the fireplace. Rene and Papa mend¬ 
ed their farm tools, getting them ready for 
spring work. Maman knitted stockings for 
the children while Grand’mere sat at the 
loom weaving a rug. For the women of this 
family and all their friends were very good 
weavers. They had learned from their 
mothers and grandmothers to spin wool and 
cotton into yarn which they wove into rugs, 
coverlets, and cotton cloth for dresses. 

Even Madelaine knew how to spin and 
was learning to weave. One winter evening 
when she had finished her school work, she 
got the spinning wheel and began to spin. 
Little Marie drew up her chair between 
Madelaine and Grand’mere. 

“Grand’mere, please tell us about our peo¬ 
ple,” she begged. 

“Do you want to hear that even once more, 




202 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


my little ones?” asked Grand’mere, but she 
was pleased to tell them the story over 
again. 

So while she sent the shuttle flying back 
and forth on the loom, Grand’mere told 
them the story of their people, the Acadians, 
and how they first came to Louisiana. 

“Long ago,” she said, “in the early days 
of America, French people lived far up north 
in a province of Nova Scotia called Acadia. 
They had a very happy life with good farms 
and friendly neighbors. After a while the 
English came, and drove the Acadians away 
from their homes, because they wanted the 
province for themselves. 

“The poor Acadians wandered far and 
wide, and suffered many hardships. Finally 
some of them reached the warm land of 
Louisiana, where French settlers were al¬ 
ready living. They floated down the bayous 
in boats until they came to the very spot 
where St. Martinville is today. 

“There they made their homes, and there 
the children and grandchildren have stayed 
ever since. After a while their name 
Acadian became changed to Cajun. So that 
is why we are all called Cajuns now, and why 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 203 


we usually speak French in our homes.” 

“And that is why they give plays about 
our people in St. Martinville, isn’t it, Grand’- 
mere,” asked Madelaine. 

“Yes, cherie, we all like to remember how 
brave our grand’peres (grandfathers) were, 
and how they made new homes here,” an¬ 
swered Grand’mere. 

Madelaine had often watched the Acadian 
play, and one of the things she wanted most 
in the world was to act in it some time. 

One day, in the springtime of this story, 
some friends from St. Martinville came to 
call. Madelaine listened while they told her 
mother that they had decided to give the 
Acadian play again. 

“How I wish I could be in it,” she thought. 

Then she heard one of the ladies say that 
they wanted Madelaine to be one of the 
spinning maidens. 

“Oh, how lovely,” she cried, jumping up 
and down. “Now how glad I am that Grand’¬ 
mere taught me to spin!” 

Madelaine and the other little girls were 
to wear costumes like those of Acadian 
maidens of long ago. Madelaine’s costume 
had a white blouse with a black velvet bodice 




204 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


and a long full skirt of blue. It was very 
becoming to her brown hair and eyes. She 
had wooden shoes and a white cap too. 

What an exciting day it was for Made- 
lame when the play was given! She sat 
with her friends on the stage which was 
fixed like an Acadian farmhouse room of 
long ago. She made her spinning wheel 
whirr as fast as she could and sang the 
songs loudly. 

As she sat on the stage she thought, “I’m 
glad I am a Cajun.” It made her proud to 
belong to such a fine race of people. 

The play was given in February. Although 
it was still winter up north, it was warm 
and springlike in Louisiana. The days grew 
hot and flowers were in bloom everywhere. 
Out of school time Rene was busy working 
in the garden. Papa grew both vegetables 
and strawberries to sell, and needed Rene’s 
help. When the large sweet strawberries 
were ripe all the children, even little Marie, 
helped to gather them and pack them care¬ 
fully in boxes. Then Papa drove in to the 
nearest railway station to send them to city 
markets. 

They had fig trees, too, and many other 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 205 


fruits. It was part of Madelaine’s work to 
pick the fruit, and help Maman make pre¬ 
serves. 

One Saturday morning Rene came down 
the path to the bank of the bayou. He had 
a crab net over his shoulder and a pole. 

“Today I am not going to work,” he said 
to Madelaine and Marie, who were sitting 
in the shade of a live oak tree. “I’m going 
crabbing.” 

“Oh, let me go too,” cried Madelaine. 

“And me,” said Marie jumping up and 
down. 

“No, I don’t want any girls along,” said 
Rene. “I’m going to get Jean.” 

Jean was Rene’s best friend who lived 
farther down the bayou. 

Rene untied the boat which was moored 
under the tree. He pushed it out from the 
bank, and floated down the stream. The 
girls watched him standing up in the back 
of the boat, sending it along by pushes of 
the pole instead of rowing. They didn’t like 
to be left behind, but were comforted by the 
thought of how good the crabs would taste 
which Rene brought home. 

A little way down the bayou, Rene steered 




206 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the boat up to a dock. “Jean,” he called to 
a dark-haired boy who was sitting on the 
bank. “Want to go crabbing?” 

“Oui (Yes), Rene, I’m coming,” shouted 
Jean as he scampered into the house for a 
crab net and basket. 

“See, Jean,” said Rene, as the other boy 
clambered into the boat, “I’ve brought meat 
and strings.” 

“Good, we’ll get lots of crabs,” said Jean. 

The boys floated down the creek, past lit¬ 
tle white cabins where Negro children were 
playing in the dooryards, past swampy 
marshes and fields of sugar cane. Soon they 
reached a quiet cove where they tied the 
boat to a stake. 

Then they fastened bits of meat to long 
strings which they let down into the water. 
Soon Jean felt a tug on his string. He pulled 
it up hand over hand, while Rene dipped the 
net into the water. Up it came with a wrig¬ 
gling crab inside! Another tug on a string 
and another crab scooped up! The crabs 
must have liked the bait, for they kept the 
boys busy and in a little while they had taken 
a splendid catch. 

“That’s enough crabs for a big gumbo for 





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RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 209 


each of us,” said Rene, “and it’s still early. 
Let’s catch some more and take a mess to 
Mr. Thibaudeaux.” 

“Yes, let’s,” agreed Jean eagerly. 

Mr. Thibaudeaux was the man who owned 
a large sugar mill near their homes. It was 
a place where the boys loved to go at 
“sugar-cane time” as the colored people call 
it, when the tall stalks are taken to the mill 
to be turned into sugar. 

Last year when Rene and Jean had visited 
the mill, Mr. Thibaudeaux had taken them 
all around and told them how sugar was 
made, talking to them just as if they were 
grown-up men. It was no wonder they want¬ 
ed to make a present to such a kind friend. 

So they poled farther down the bayou un¬ 
til they came to a landing much larger than 
theirs. There was a beautiful white house 
with a large porch, standing in a grove of 
trees. The boys took their baskets up to the 
door, and there on the steps they met Mr. 
Thibaudeaux. 

“Why, what’s this?” he asked. 

“Oh—uh—Jean thought^-” began Rene. 

“Rene thought” began Jean. 

Mr. Thibaudeaux laughed. “How nice of 




210 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


you to bring me some crabs for gumbo, 
boys,” he said. “Some time I’ll give you a 
treat too. One of these days at cane-cutting 
time, I’ll take you into the city with me and 
we will see the sights.” 

Oh, how wonderful! Neither of the boys 
had ever been to the great city of New Or¬ 
leans. They were so excited at the thought 
that they could scarcely speak. Quickly they 
said good-bye to their good friend and ran 
away to the boat. 

They pushed the boat along to Jean’s 
landing. “Let’s keep that a secret,” said 
Rene, “will you, Jean?” 

They agreed. “Well, aurevoir (good-bye), 
Jean,” said Rene, “let’s go crabbing next 
week.” 

“All right, Rene, au revoir.” 

Rene poled the boat to his own landing 
and tied it under the live oak tree. He car¬ 
ried the basket of crabs up the path and 
walked into the kitchen. 

“See, Maman,” he called, “I have a basket 
full of crabs. Now will you make gumbo?” 

“Good, my son,” said Maman, admiring 
the crabs. “We shall have a fine gumbo for 
Sunday dinner.” 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 211 


She dropped the crabs into a pot of boil¬ 
ing water on the stove. When they were 
cooked she took the meat from the shells 
and put it in a pot with herbs and vegetables 
to cook a long time, to make delicious gum¬ 
bo soup. When the family sat down to din¬ 
ner next day Maman brought each of them 
a bowl of rice mixed with the rich gumbo. 
Oh, how good it tasted! 

Most of the summer days were too hot 
even to enjoy crabbing. The heavy air made 
everyone feel lazy and it was hard to work. 
One evening the family sat on the gallery 
where a little breeze, smelling of jasmine 
and roses, was blowing. Fireflies danced in 
the darkness. Grand’mere rocked in her 
chair singing a little French song. Her 
wrinkled face was kind and smiling as she 
looked at the children. “Well, my little 
ones,” she said, “have you done your work 
well today?” 

“Oh, yes, Grand’mere,” they said in cho¬ 
rus. 

“And I didn’t want to work,” said Made- 
lame, “it was so very hot.” 

“Well, would my good children like to 
hear some old stories?” asked Grand’mere. 




212 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Please, Grand’mere,” they answered. 
Grand’mere knew many wonderful stories 
about fairies, witches, and hobgoblins. They 
were old stories that every Cajun grand¬ 
mother had told to her grandchildren since 
the days of long ago when their people lived 
in Acadia. 

Grand’mere believed that witches rode 
through the air on broomsticks. She thought 
that there were fairies of all sorts right near 
them in the woods and fields. Some were 
good fairies ready to help people, but others 
were bad spirits looking for chances to 
harm. 

The children liked best to hear about the 
strange flickering light sometimes seen in 
swamps which Grand’mere called “feu fol- 
let.” She told them how an evil fairy tried 
to lead men away from the paths in the 
woods by its dancing light. The men, think¬ 
ing the light came from a house or lantern, 
would follow it until they fell in a swampy 
lake and were drowned. Madelaine shivered, 
imagining all the fireflies to be the lights of 
evil fairies. 

The summer days soon passed by, and it 
was time for school again. One afternoon 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 213 


in November after school Madelaine and 
Marie went down to the bayou to amuse 
themselves. Suddenly they saw a queer lit¬ 
tle steamboat chugging along down the 
creek. It had a wheel behind which turned 
round and round, churning up the water 
like an angry porpoise. The steamboat was 
dragging two barges loaded with stalks of 
sugar cane. 

“Oh, look, Marie,” cried Madelaine. 
“There goes a load of cane to the sugar mill. 
Now we shall have sugar cane to suck.” 

They ran back to the house to tell Rene. 
“The cane is going by to the mill,” they 
cried. 

“Hurray!” said Rene. “Tomorrow Jean 
and I will go to the mill.” 

The next afternoon the boys started as 
soon as they were home from school. 

“Don’t forget to bring us some sugar 
cane,” Madelaine called after them. 

“All right,” they answered. 

“Oh, Rene, do you suppose Mr. Thibau- 
deaux will remember his promise?” Jean 
asked his friend, as they came to the mill. 

In the yard Negro farm hands were piling 
the cane on a carrier. This carrier ran by 



214 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


machinery and took the cane stalks from the 
wagons into the chopping machines without 
ever stopping. The boys went into the mill 
to watch the machines chop and squeeze the 
cane until the juice ran out. Then it was 
poured into big tanks to boil. 

The boys knew the man who tended the 
machine which separated the sugar from 
molasses. He grinned at them and reached 
into the machine to scoop up a handful of 
soft brown sugar for each of them. It tasted 
like molasses and was very good. 

When they came out of the mill, there, 
standing by the carrier was their friend Mr. 
Thibaudeaux. “Hello,” he called, “if there 
aren’t my friends who catch such splendid 
crabs.” 

“Hello, sir,” answered the boys. 

“Now see here, boys,” said Mr. Thibau¬ 
deaux, “how about asking your mothers if 
you may go with me to New Orleans tomor¬ 
row. I have to go to the big refinery on busi¬ 
ness and we will have a fine day in town.” 

Never were there two such happy boys! 

“Be here at six o’clock sharp,” said their 
friend, “for I must get an early start.” 

The boys were so excited that they almost 



RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 215 


forgot to get the sugar cane they had prom¬ 
ised to take Rene’s sisters. Then they ran 
all the way home to tell their great news. 
They burst into the sitting room of Rene’s 
house, both talking at once. It was a long 
time before the family could understand 
what it was all about. They were as excited 
as the boys when they learned of their great 
surprise. 

“Here’s your sugar cane, Madelaine,” said 
Rene, when the story was finished. Both lit¬ 
tle girls began to suck the sweet juice, try¬ 
ing not to mind that they could not go to the 
big city too. 

Rene was up at daybreak, but he hadn’t 
finished dressing when he heard Jean’s whis¬ 
tle under the window. Maman made them 
eat a little breakfast and then they set off 
down the road at a trot. This was the great¬ 
est day of their lives. Never had they been 
farther away from home than St. Martin- 
ville, and very seldom had they ridden in an 
automobile. 

When they reached the plantation house 
Mr. Thibaudeaux was just coming out to get 
his car. The boys climbed in, and off they 
went. The car whizzed along the straight 




216 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


road, past quiet bayous and big cane fields. 
They passed Negroes astride of mules, and 
others driving carts to the fields. They went 
through little towns, and past big white plan¬ 
tation houses shaded by huge live oak trees 
hung with moss. 

After a long while they came to the great 
Mississippi River, yellow and muddy. The 
boys had never imagined a river so big. It 
looked like a sea to them. When Mr. Thi- 
baudeaux drove the car on board a chunky 
red ferry boat, they thought it would surely 
sink. But the boat waddled safely across the 
wide river like an old turtle. 

Then they went spinning along until sud¬ 
denly they drove down avenues with palm 
trees and shrubbery in the center and rows 
of fine big buildings on either side. Then 
they turned into Canal Street and were in 
the heart of the city. What a racket, and 
what crowds of people, street cars and auto¬ 
mobiles! The boys’ eyes were popping out 
trying to see everything at once. 

Mr. Thibaudeaux parked the car along the 
sidewalk and told the boys to jump out. “How 
would you like to stop here for a while? I’m 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 217 


hungry,” he said, “and I’ll bet you are too, 
boys. Let’s get some food.” 

He took Rene and Jean into a big restau¬ 
rant and ordered many good things to eat. 
The boys had never eaten in a restaurant be¬ 
fore, and although they were very hungry, 
they were more interested in the people they 
saw than in the food. 

After lunch Mr. Thibaudeaux said, “Now, 
boys, I have a lot of business to attend to. 
I’m going to take you to the docks where you 
can watch the big steamers being loaded. I 
know you will enjoy that.” 

There were rows and rows of ships moored 
along the docks. The boys thought there 
must be miles of them. Big jolly Negroes 
were rolling bales of cotton from the sheds 
to the ships. Others carried sacks of sugar 
and boxes of fruit to the cranes, to be lifted 
into the holds. There was a great shouting 
of men and clanking of machinery. 

Some of the ships were passenger steam¬ 
ers. One of them was getting ready to sail, 
and smoke poured out of its tall smoke 
stacks. People were going up the gangplank 
with luggage. Presently the gangplank was 
drawn up, the ship’s whistle gave a long, 




218 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


loud blast, and the ship slipped out into the 
river. 

After a while the boys were hungry, so 
they bought pralines, delicious New Orleans 
candy of nuts and sugar, from an old ped¬ 
dler. When Mr. Thibaudeaux came to fetch 
them, Rene asked, “May we buy some pres¬ 
ents to take home to the girls?” 

“Surely,” said their kind friend. “I’ll help 
you.” He took them to a great store where 
there were so many beautiful things that it 
was hard to choose what to get. Finally they 
decided on a doll for Marie and a string of 
beads for Madelaine. Then Mr. Thibaudeaux 
added a big box of candy for each household. 

It was dark when they reached the Mis¬ 
sissippi on the way home, and the river 
looked even larger and more dangerous than 
in the morning. Soon after, the two tired 
boys fell asleep in the car and were sur¬ 
prised when Mr. Thibaudeaux woke them at 
Rene’s door. They had no words to thank 
their friend for their wonderful trip, so each 
gave him a big hug. 

Madelaine and Marie were still awake and 
came running out to hear the boys’ adven¬ 
tures and to exclaim over their presents. 




RENE AND MADELAINE OF LOUISIANA 219 


Rene stuck his hands in his pockets and 
walked about the room in a lordly way. He 
was a man of the world now, and could tell 
his little sisters all about the Big City. 






GYPSY NURA 

A N OLD Ford truck went rolling along 
/A a country road. Puffy red quilts 
X jL were piled up in the back. Curled 
up among the quilts were three children 
of a gypsy family, Nura, Liubo and Petri. 
Big sister Butsiara was near them in a cor¬ 
ner. Father sat at the wheel. Beside him 
sat old Uncle Yanko, and Mother, with baby 
Varia on her lap. 


220 






GYPSY NURA 


221 


Father turned down a lane and drove into 
a field. There was a grove of trees nearby 
and a brook raced through the field. Under 
the trees two tents were pitched. The smoke 
of a wood fire rose in the air. 

“Gypsy friends are here,” said Father, get¬ 
ting down from the truck and walking to¬ 
ward the tents. 

A group of people were sitting around the 
fire, the women wearing bright-colored 
dresses with red kerchiefs around their 
heads, the boys and men dressed in rough 
and tumble clothes. 

Father called a greeting in gypsy lan¬ 
guage which is called Romany. 

“How are you, Uncle?” he said to the old 
gypsy who came to meet him. 

“Whence come you, brother?” replied the 
old man. 

“From the south,” said Father. 

“Set up your tent and join our camp,” in¬ 
vited the old man. 

Quickly the children tumbled out of the 
truck. Liubo helped Father set up the big 
tent. Butsiara and the younger children car¬ 
ried in the feather quilts, cooking pots and 
bundles. It was nearly time for supper. 




222 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


In a few minutes the old gypsy, whose 
name was Uncle Spiro, came to them. 

“Food is cooking,” he said. “You are wel¬ 
come to eat.” 

They all went to join the other gypsies who 
were gathered around a huge copper tray. 
Todoro, a big fellow of seventeen, invited 
Nura and Liubo to sit beside him. Near him 
was his ten-year-old brother, Nikola, the 
same age as Liubo. 

Todoro’s mother was stirring chicken stew 
in a big pot which was hung above a wood 
fire. She lifted the pot from the fire and set 
it in the middle of the copper tray. She broke 
up a big round loaf of bread into chunks. 

“Eat what you wish, my friends,” she said. 

Each one reached into the pot to take a 
piece of chicken with his fingers. They 
sopped up the juice with pieces of bread. The 
chicken was cooked with herbs, onions, and 
peppers. Oh, but it was good! 

In the midst of the feast Nura looked up, 
hearing a strange shuffling sound. What 
was her surprise to see a huge brown bear 
shambling toward the fire! Nura, Liubo, and 
Petri stared with all their eyes, a little 
frightened. 



GYPSY NURA 


223 


“Oh, don’t be frightened, kids,” said To- 
doro. “That is only Binko, my trained bear. 
He’s a friend to everybody.” 

Todoro set some food on the grass for the 
bear. 

“You see,” said Uncle Spiro, “we are Ru¬ 
manian gypsies. We were all born in the old 
country except Nikola and the small children 
of my other son. In our country it is the cus¬ 
tom for our people to train bears and go 
from village to village with them, making 
them dance and do tricks. So in America 
we are making money the same way. To- 
doro’s father taught him to train Binko, and 
we show him in country fairs and circuses. 
That’s why we are camping here. There is 
a fair at the town nearby and we are giving 
a show each day with Binko.” 

Nura’s Uncle Yanko spoke up. “I am Hun¬ 
garian,” he said, “but I have wandered 
through many lands in my long life, and so 
have my children. Now we stay in America 
most of the time. The children were all born 
here.” 

“I’ve been in Spain and Cuba,” said Nikola 
to Liubo. “I saw the bull fights there. Where 
have you wandered?” 



224 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“We were in Mexico last winter,” said 
Liubo, “and one summer we went to Can¬ 
ada.” 

“I was in Canada too,” piped up nine-year- 
old Nura, not willing to be left out. 

The men brought wood for the fire so that 
it blazed up high in the dark night, while 
they told each other stories of their adven¬ 
tures in different lands. 

Uncle Yanko brought his fiddle and began 
to play. Nura admired him as he stood there 
in the firelight. He was tall, with a lean 
brown face like a hawk. He wore high boots, 
a short jacket with silver buttons, and a sil¬ 
ver earring in one ear. How Uncle Yanko 
could make the fiddle sing! Wild, sad tunes, 
and gay, dancing ones. 

He began to sing old songs of the gypsy 
people while he played. Soon the others were 
singing with him, and the fiddle was singing 
more wildly than any of the gypsies. 

Suddenly Nura jumped up and began to 
dance, for when she heard gypsy music she 
couldn’t sit still. She whirled round and 
round until the ruffled skirts of her green 
flowered dress stood out in the shape of a 
bell. Her dark eyes sparkled and the gold 




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GYPSY NURA 


229 


hoop earrings in her ears twinkled in the 
firelight. She turned her hands and arms in 
graceful movements, and stamped her feet, 
whirling faster and faster. 

The gypsies shouted and clapped and 
begged her to dance more. At last she fell 
to the ground tired out and snuggled into 
her mother’s lap. The fire died down and 
presently they all went away to their tents. 
The children curled up in the red feather 
quilts and slept like tops. 

Early in the morning Nura came from the 
tent in her green dress, rubbing the sleep 
from her eyes. Mother had made a fire and 
set a pot of stew and the coffee pot on it. 
She sat on the ground nursing baby Varia. 
In her red head kerchief and orange dress 
Mother looked like a bright bird. 

After breakfast she said to five-year-old 
Petri, “Bring me some wood from under the 
trees, Petri.” 

To Nura she said, “Fetch me some water, 
for I must wash the clothes.” 

Nura took a pail and went down to the 
brook. She sang and skipped through the 
dewy grass. The air was fresh and cool, and 
birds were singing. “They are like the birds 



230 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Uncle Yanko sings about, who loved the for¬ 
est,” she thought. 

Mother heated the water which Nura 
brought in a great copper basin over the 
fire. She washed shirts and dresses for the 
family and hung them on a line which she 
tied between two trees. Nura tidied the tent 
and brought out the red quilts to air in the 
sun. 

Liubo went to watch Todoro and Nikola 
feed Binko who was fastened to a tree by a 
long chain. After the bear had finished his 
breakfast Todoro said, “Now I’ll show you 
how Binko can dance, Liubo.” 

He took a tambourine and began beating 
on it, shaking it so that the metal disks 
around the edge made a tinkling music. The 
bear lumbered to his feet and stood on his 
hind legs. He began to turn slowly around, 
lifting first one foot high in air, then the 
other. Liubo laughed and clapped his hands. 

“Good boy, Binko,” said Todoro, and gave 
him a lump of sugar. 

“Now I’ll show you how he can wrestle,” 
said the bear’s master. He spoke to Binko 
in gypsy language and the bear stood up, 
putting his great furry arms around Todoro. 



GYPSY NURA 


231 


They began to hug each other and to strug¬ 
gle back and forth. The bear was as tall as 
the boy and much bigger. 

In a minute Todoro shouted, “Besh!” and 
the bear suddenly let go and fell down. 

“Want to try a wrestle, Liubo?” he asked. 
“Binko won’t hurt you.” 

Liubo thought it would be fun, but when 
he found himself in the clutch of this great 
creature, he was frightened, and struggled 
to get away. Binko held on tighter. Liubo 
began to pinch him and pull at his hair, try¬ 
ing to escape. Binko growled a little and 
hugged him tighter than ever. 

“Besh!” shouted Todoro angrily, and the 
bear let go. Liubo fell down gasping for 
breath. 

“You are bad, Binko,” cried Todoro, slap¬ 
ping him. Then he said to Liubo, “Binko 
didn’t mean to hurt you, but you mustn’t 
pinch him, because it makes him mad.” 

In the afternoon Todoro’s father made 
Binko climb into their truck to go to the fair. 
Todoro and Nikola sat on the seat with their 
father. They invited Nura and Liubo to go 
to see the show. They rode in the back with 
Binko. 



232 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


The show was such fun! Nura and Liubo 
sat on benches in the tent while Todoro’s 
father stood outside shouting to the people 
to come in. Nikola beat on a drum to make 
people look. “Only a quarter to see the won¬ 
derful trained bear,” shouted Todoro’s fa¬ 
ther. 

Pretty soon the tent filled up, and Todoro 
led Binko in on his chain. He beat on the 
tambourine and Binko danced, while the 
children in the audience laughed and 
clapped. Then Todoro put roller skates on 
Binko’s big hind paws, and the bear scuffled 
around the little platform to the sound of 
the tambourine. He looked so funny that the 
children shrieked for joy. 

Then Todoro wrestled with the bear and 
made him fall down. “Come on, come on,” 
he shouted, “who wants to wrestle with the 
bear?” 

A man came up to try, but Binko soon 
knocked him down, gently however. “A 
stronger man can do it,” cried Todoro. So a 
big fellow came up and began to struggle 
with Binko. 

“Besh,” said Todoro softly and Binko 
obediently fell down. How the audience 




GYPSY NURA 


233 


clapped as the man walked off, so proud to 
have thrown a big bear! Every little while 
Todoro made Binko give up, so that more 
men would want to try their luck wrestling 
with him. Todoro’s father took in many 
quarters that day and was pleased with their 
success. 

Next day Nura’s mother set up a tent at 
the fair to tell people’s fortunes. Butsiara 
stood outside wearing a red dress and neck¬ 
lace of gold coins to attract attention. When 
people came in Mother told them things they 
liked to hear. She said money was coming 
to them, or that they were going on journeys. 
She told young men and girls that their 
sweethearts loved them and would marry 
them. So Mother made plenty of money. . 

Nura had charge of Petri and baby Varia. 
With the baby in her arms she wandered 
with Petri all around the fair. It was excit¬ 
ing and gay, with the noise of shouting, and 
of beating drums, and merry-go-round mu¬ 
sic. When it grew dark strings of electric 
lights made the whole place bright. 

There were all sorts of things to eat and 
drink, but Nura had no money. She was 
looking longingly at the stand selling pink 




234 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


lemonade when two kind-looking women 
stopped beside her. Nura smiled at them 
shyly. 

“What pretty gypsy children!” said one 
woman to the other. Then to Nura she said, 
“Hello, little girl. Isn’t that baby heavy for 
you to carry?” 

“Oh, no, ma’am,” answered Nura, “she’s 
my little sister. I take care of her all the 
time. That’s my brother, too,” she added, 
pointing to Petri. “I take care of him too.” 

“Well, you’re a pretty smart little girl,” 
said the woman. “Would you like a drink of 
lemonade?” 

Nura smiled more broadly and Petri 
edged up close to her, hoping that he would 
not be left out. And no indeed, all three chil¬ 
dren were treated to sweet pink drinks. 
Then the other woman said, “Here’s some 
money to take your family riding on the 
merry-go-round,” and she gave Nura fifty 
cents. 

“Thank you, thank you, kind ladies,” said 
Nura. She and Petri hurried off towards the 
big merry-go-round, where the wooden 
horses were whirling around to lively tunes. 
On the way they stopped to buy candy and 




GYPSY NURA 


235 


doughnuts, for they felt very rich indeed. 

Petri mounted a black horse and held on 
tight. Nura sat on a lion, clutching Varia 
with one arm while she held on to the lion 
with her other hand. Off they went, whiz¬ 
zing faster and faster while the music 
played. It was wonderful. When the music 
stopped the man who ran the merry-go- 
round asked them for more money. Nura 
paid it, and they kept on riding until the 
money was gone. 

Then Nura suddenly remembered Mother 
in the fortune telling tent. So she and Petri 
hurried back through the crowd with the 
baby. 

When they came near they saw a great 
crowd around Todoro’s tent, near their own. 
Men were shaking their fists at Todoro’s 
father, who was arguing with them. Nura 
slipped into the crowd and found Nikola and 
Liubo. 

“Binko got mad and squeezed a man too 
tight,” whispered Nikola. “There is great 
trouble.” 

Just then a big man came through the 
crowd. The children knew by the badge on 
his coat that he was a sheriff. He shouted 




236 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


and argued with Todoro’s father, then went 
away. Nikola ran into the tent. 

“We have to go,” said Todoro. “The sheriff 
is very angry. He says we must leave town.” 

Nura and Petri hurried to their tent. Just 
as they reached it Father appeared. “We go 
too, quickly,” he said. Mother picked up the 
baby and they hurried to their truck, out¬ 
side the fair grounds. 

At the camp that night the gypsies shout¬ 
ed and scolded, and the women cried, as 
gypsies do when they are upset. Quickly the 
tents were taken down, the cooking pots and 
feather beds stowed in the trucks. Liubo and 
Nura felt very sad to say good-bye to Todoro 
and Binko. They were going south, all the 
way to Mexico, while Nura’s father was go¬ 
ing in the other direction. 

Day after day Nura’s family rolled 
along the roads in their truck. At night they 
camped in fields or in vacant lots outside 
towns. When they came to a pleasant place 
with water and trees, they stayed several 
days. But always they wandered on again, 
for gypsies have no settled homes. They like 
to be moving on every few days to a new 
place, and they love to be free of houses and 




GYPSY NURA 


237 


cities, and to be out in the open country* 

Sometimes Mother went into the towns to 
tell people’s fortunes. Sometimes Father had 
pots and pans to mend, for he was a copper¬ 
smith when he felt like working. Often they 
met other gypsy caravans. Then there was 
a big camp, and singing and dancing around 
the fires. But the children never found any¬ 
one they liked so well as Todoro. 

The weather was growing cold, and often 
the children shivered when they got up from 
their quilts in the morning and went out to 
hunt wood for the cooking fire. Sometimes 
there was very little to eat, when Mother 
couldn’t find people who wanted their for¬ 
tunes told. The children were used to this 
hard way of living, so they didn’t mind. 

They did not go to school, yet they learned 
many things from the way they lived. They 
knew very well how to manage money and 
to buy and sell, although they could not do 
problems from an arithmetic book. They 
could speak English as well as their own 
Romany language, and they had learned 
some Spanish in Mexico. Uncle Yanko 
taught them the laws of their tribe, by 
which gypsies live. 




238 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


One cold windy day they came in sight of 
a big blue lake. It was Lake Michigan. 
Father and Liubo set up the tent in a hollow 
among sand dunes. Mother made a fire and 
started a stew cooking. 

They were sitting around the fire when 
they heard an automobile stop near by. A 
man walked into the firelight and they saw 
it was another sheriff. 

“Pack up, you gypsies, and move on,” he 
said. “You can’t stay here.” 

“We do no harm, sir,” said Uncle Yanko. 

“My baby is sick,” moaned Mother. 

“Tell your fortune, Mister,” said Nura, 
shaking her earrings. 

The sheriff said gruffly, “Well, you may 
stay here tonight, but be off early in the 
morning.” 

When the sheriff was gone Uncle Yanko 
said, “Winter is coming anyway. We will 
rent a store in Chicago to live in while the 
weather is bad.” 

They started early in the morning. It was 
cold and rainy, so the children did not mind 
leaving the open country. Soon they were 
in the great roaring city. Father rented a 
store on a poor street where people of many 



GYPSY NURA 


239 


races lived. Mother, with the help of But- 
siara and Nura, set up housekeeping. They 
hung curtains of red cloth across the middle 
of the long room. The front part was the 
place where Mother would tell people’s for¬ 
tunes and sell herbs which she said would 
cure sickness. 

The family lived in the space behind the 
curtains. Rugs and feather beds were laid 
on the floor. Mother hung bright scarves 
on the walls. They had a round stove for 
cooking and to keep them warm. In the 
window of the shop Mother put a big sign, 
with a picture of a head on it. The words on 
the poster said, I READ YOUR HEAD AS 
YOU READ A BOOK. That meant that by 
studying their heads as well as their hands, 
Mother would tell people what was going 
to happen to them. 

Every day Mother or Butsiara sat in the 
doorway to invite people in. Butsiara could 
tell fortunes almost as well as Mother. Nura 
took care of Varia while Mother was busy. 
When they needed food Mother gave Nura 
money and sent her out to buy from the 
pushcarts in the next street. 

Nura knew how to bargain very sharply, 




240 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


so when she came back with bread and meat, 
onions and salad, Mother praised her for 
spending so little money. Sometimes Nura 
and Petri went exploring in back alleys to 
find broken boxes or other bits of wood. 
They carried the wood home on their heads 
for the stove. 

Nearly every night there was a crowd of 
people in their room, for many gypsies spend 
the winters in Chicago, and they like to 
visit together. Always there was a big pot 
of stew on the stove from which people could 
help themselves. Sometimes they had roast 
pork or roast sheep’s heads. The big copper 
eating tray sat in the middle of the floor 
with bread and sausage on it. 

Uncle Yanko and his old friends told 
stories and sang. Liubo had learned from 
Uncle Yanko to play the fiddle very well, so 
he often played for their friends and Nura 
danced. Their room was noisy with talk, 
laughter, or quarreling, but the children 
liked it. 

In the middle of winter the weather grew 
very cold. Mother and baby Varia were sick 
with colds. Father had no pots to mend. It 
was so cold that people did not care to come 




GYPSY NURA 


241 


to the shop to hear their fortunes. The room 
too was cold, because the coal for the stove 
was nearly gone. There was very little 
money for food. 

One day Nura and Liubo hunted in the 
alleys for firewood, but found only a few 
pieces. On the way home Nura said, “Liubo, 
sometimes I wish we had a nice home like 
other children and that our father had a 
job.” 

“But you know you wouldn’t like to stay 
in one place all the time, Nura,” replied her 
brother. 

“Maybe not, but I’m cold and hungry, and 
our mother and Varia need food and medi¬ 
cine. We must do something about it.” 

“What shall we do?” asked Liubo sadly. 

“I have thought of something,” replied 
Nura. “Let’s go to that cafe where you 
have been with Father and the other men. 
People go there who have money. You can 
play the fiddle and I can dance. Then the 
people will give us money.” 

“All right, let’s go tonight,” said Liubo. 

When Mother was asleep and everyone 
else had gone out, Nura dressed up in a 
bright red dress with yellow flowers on it. 




242 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


She put Butsiara’s necklace of gold coins 
around her neck and bracelets on her arms. 
Liubo tied a piece of red cloth around his 
waist for a sash. They hurried out, wrapped 
in their old coats, and ran down the street 
to the Rumanian Cafe. It was always full 
of people in the evening, listening to music 
while they ate and drank. 

The owner of the cafe knew Liubo and 
said “Hello” to the boy and girl when they 
came in. 

“Listen, Mister,” said Liubo, “I can play 
the fiddle just fine and my sister can dance. 
Please let us give a show in your cafe. We 
need to make some money.” 

“All right, kids, you can try it,” said the 
man kindly. 

Nura and Liubo walked into the crowded 
room. They stood in a clear space between 
tables and Liubo began to play. When she 
heard the wild gypsy music Nura forgot to 
be frightened. She shook her black braids, 
twirled around, and began to dance faster 
and faster, as Liubo’s fiddle sang the gypsy 
tunes. 

The people clapped and shouted and asked 
for more. Nura danced again. Then Liubo 




GYPSY NURA 


243 


took his cap and together they went from 
table to table. Nearly everyone put some 
money into Liubo’s cap. Some people asked 
them to sit down, and gave them nice things 
to eat. 

Then Nura took the little silk shawl from 
her shoulders and tied up the money in it. 
They bundled up in their coats and hurried 
home. 

“See, my mother,” cried Nura, “I have a 
scarf full of money!” 

“Now you shall have food and medicine, 
little mother,” said Liubo. 

Uncle Yanko, Mother and Father were all 
pleased that Nura and Liubo had thought of 
making some money by playing and danc¬ 
ing. 

Several nights they went to the cafe and 
made money enough for food and medicine, 
so that Mother and Varia got well. They 
bought coal and the stove was red hot with 
the big fire in it. The pot was full of chicken 
stew once more, and friends came to eat 
with them. 

All winter Nura and Liubo stayed away 
from school. Then one day the truant officer 
came and told Mother that her children must 




244 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


go to school. So Nura and Liubo went to the 
big public school building. All day they sat 
in hard seats. They couldn’t understand the 
lessons, and the other children made fun of 
the way they talked, and laughed at Nura’s 
gypsy dress. Nura and Liubo were very un¬ 
happy, but for some weeks they went to the 
school and tried to learn their lessons. 

Then one night Liubo said, “I cannot go to 
school any more, my mother. I am not happy 
there.” 

“I don’t want to go either,” said Nura. 

“Then do not go, my children,” said 
Mother. 

That night when Father came home, Moth¬ 
er said to him, “It is time to go. Spring is 
coming, and if we stay here, our children 
must go to the school where they are un¬ 
happy.” 

The very next night Father drove up to 
the door with their truck. How glad the chil¬ 
dren were to see it! Quickly they helped to 
pack quilts and rugs and cooking pots. In 
no time at all they were driving oif through 
city streets, ready to wander on the open 
road again. They were tired of city noise 
and dark rooms. 




GYPSY NURA 


245 


Day after day they drove southward. The 
grass was getting green and Nura found 
wild flowers in the fields. The children ran 
around like little wild animals set free. How 
good it was to have the big sky over their 
heads, fresh air and open country all around 
them! They were glad to sleep in the tent 
instead of a close room. 

One day Father said, “In a few days it will 
be Easter. We must find some gypsy friends 
to share the feast with us.” 

“I will get some turkeys for the feast from 
that big farmhouse near us,” said Mother. 

She went to see the woman at the farm¬ 
house. The woman had no money to spare, 
but she wanted to have her fortune told, so 
she traded two fat turkeys for the fine story 
Mother told her of nice things which were to 
happen to her. 

The next day they drove on along a high¬ 
way. Suddenly, at a cross-road, Father 
stopped the truck and got down. He had seen 
a branch with two prongs lying on the grass 
at the roadside. The longer prong pointed 
down a side lane. The branch was a patrin, 
or patteran, a sign which gypsies leave along 
the roads to show they have passed by. 




246 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“We shall find friends down this road,” 
said Father, and drove on quickly. 

Soon they found another gypsy sign beside 
an entrance to a field. They drove into the 
field and down a slope, and there was the 
gypsy camp. There were three tents and 
several automobiles. Fires were burning 
before the tents. 

A young man came toward them. Sud¬ 
denly Nura and Liubo jumped from the 
truck and ran to meet him. “It’s Todoro, it’s 
Todoro,” they cried. 

They threw their arms around him and he 
gave them a big hug. There was the whole 
family, and Binko too, who seemed to like 
it when the children hugged him. What a 
happy meeting it was! 

Another gypsy family was with them, and 
they were all preparing for the Easter feast. 
Two whole little pigs were roasting over fires 
which had been built in holes in the ground. 
Liubo and Father dug a hole and made a 
fire to roast their turkeys. They were fas¬ 
tened on branches over the fire, and Nura 
watched over them while they cooked. 

When the food was ready, the pigs and 
turkeys were cut up and put on eating trays 




GYPSY NURA 


247 


on the ground. There were sausages and 
bread and salad besides. All the gypsies sat 
down and ate until they couldn’t hold an¬ 
other mouthful. 

Then the fires were built up until they 
blazed brightly. The gypsies began to tell 
stories. Nura lay on the ground listening, 
While Todoro told about the family’s adven¬ 
tures in Mexico. Then she heard Uncle 
Yanko’s fiddle begin to sing. 

Up she jumped and began to dance. How 
beautiful it was! The stars were overhead, 
the fires blazed, and gypsy friends were all 
about her. She danced with all her heart, 
perfectly happy because she was a gypsy. 







AVRAHM 

OF THE EAST SIDE 


a VRAHM ran up the steep, dark stairs 
ZA to his home in a tenement on a 
X A. crowded street. It was getting late 
and he must be in the house and dressed in 
clean clothes before sundown. For it was 
Friday afternoon, and as soon as the sun 
went down, Avrahm and his family and 
many other Jewish people in New York 
would begin to celebrate the Sabbath. 

When he entered the dark little flat on the 
top floor of the building, his mother was 
busily arranging the dishes on the table. She 


248 



AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


249 


was dressed in her best clothes and her hair 
was freshly washed. Little sister, Sonya, was 
already dressed. Mother smiled at Avrahm, 
and said to him in Yiddish, which was the 
language they used at home, “Hurry, my 
son, else you will not be ready to receive the 
Sabbath.” 

While Avrahm was dressing he heard his 
father come in from work. He, too, got him¬ 
self ready. Then, just before the sun sank 
and the twilight began, the family assem¬ 
bled around the table. In the center of the 
table were placed two white candles in brass 
holders. 

Father stood at one end of the table, with 
his hat on his head. Mother was at the other 
end. Her head was covered with a kerchief. 
At one side stood Avrahm’s old grand¬ 
mother. She wore a white shawl over her 
black wig. When she was a little girl in Rus¬ 
sia, just before her marriage, her head had 
been shaved. This was a Jewish custom in 
those days. Ever since that day, she had 
worn a black wig called a scheitel on her 
head. 

Next to Grandmother stood Sonya, her 
head covered with a new beret. Then 




250 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Avrahm took his place, wearing- a little 
round cap, which had come from the Holy- 
Land. In their religion it is a mark of re¬ 
spect to wear a hat, and no prayer must be 
said with the head uncovered. 

Then Mother lit the Sabbath candles and 
said a prayer in Hebrew. This is the relig¬ 
ious language of all Jewish people no matter 
what country they come from. After the 
prayer, each member of the family smiled 
and said, “Shabbath,” which means a greet¬ 
ing for the Sabbath. 

Father poured out five tiny glasses of sac¬ 
ramental wine, one for each member of the 
family. It was not very strong wine, but 
even so, he poured very little for Avrahm 
and Sonya. Then he spoke another short 
prayer for happiness. Each member of the 
family took a little sip of the wine. 

On the table between the candle sticks was 
a loaf of bread which looked almost like 
cake, it was so white and fluffy. This is 
called cholie and is always eaten on the eve 
of the Sabbath, when everything must be 
particularly fine and nice. Father covered 
the bread with a clean napkin and said a 
few words of prayer over it. Then he cut off 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


251 


a tiny corner of the loaf and ate it. He cut 
off another little piece for Avrahm. 

After Avrahm had finished eating it he 
repeated the prayer which his father had 
made. The English words of this prayer 
are, “Blessed art Thou, 0 Lord our God, 
King of the Universe, who bringest forth 
bread from the earth.” 

Avrahm loved to take part in this cere¬ 
mony, because it made him feel very impor¬ 
tant and grown-up. Then Father sliced the 
bread and each member of the family ate a 
piece. 

After this ceremony which they called the 
breaking of the bread, the family sat down 
to enjoy the Sabbath feast, for dinner on 
Friday night was always very special. First 
came the gefiilhte fish, a savory and deli¬ 
cious dish made of several different kinds of 
fish all chopped up and cooked with bread 
and egg. 

It took a long time and much care and pa¬ 
tience to make this dish, so Grandmother 
always prepared it. She had more time to 
spend on it than Mother, who had the house 
to keep clean and the clothes to mend. 
Avrahm and Sonya were very fond of the 



252 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


fish, and each Friday night they told Grand¬ 
mother how much they liked it. This pleased 
her very much. 

Then came chicken soup with long noodles 
called lokshin in it. After the soup was 
eaten, Mother brought in plates heaped with 
the chicken which had been boiled with the 
soup, and served with vegetables. Last, and 
best of all, came the cake and tea. 

Mother served the tea, as she always did 
on the Sabbath, in a beautiful brass samovar 
which had belonged to Grandmother in her 
old home in Russia, many years ago. She 
poured out the tea in glasses and then 
brought out the rich lakach or honey cake, 
filled with orange peel and almonds. The 
children thought it the most delicious food 
in the world. 

When all had finished the feast, Father 
again spoke a prayer, giving thanks for the 
food. This was a longer prayer and it sound¬ 
ed almost as if he were singing it. Especially 
to Avrahm, who liked music very much, it 
sounded like a song. Sometimes when he 
was alone in his tiny room, he practiced say¬ 
ing it. 

Then Mother cleared the table, being care- 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


253 


ful to put the dishes they had used that night 
in a separate place. For on the Sabbath, and 
every time they ate any kind of meat, they 
used special dishes. This was because they 
were not allowed to eat meat and milk from 
the same dishes and at the same time. So, 
in order that she would never make a mis¬ 
take which she believed would be wrong, 
Mother had two sets of dishes with different 
patterns. One was for milk and the other 
for meat. 

When it was time for bed, a little neigh¬ 
bor boy came in and turned off the lights. 
It was against the religion of Avrahm’s fam¬ 
ily to do this themselves on the Sabbath. 
Long ago before mankind had learned to 
use gas and electricity, it was considered 
work to make a light or a fire. Therefore, 
as the Jewish people do not believe in work¬ 
ing on the Sabbath, they must not make a 
light with their own hands. 

Some of their neighbors, Avrahm knew, 
kept the light burning all night, and even 
kept the gas stove lit. But Avrahm’s fam¬ 
ily preferred to hire a little non-Jewish boy 
to do this for them. They waited until the 
next day to pay him, however. For another 




254 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


thing they must not do was to handle money 
on the Sabbath. 

In the morning, Avrahm and his father 
went to the Jewish church or synagogue, 
which they called the schule. The men and 
boys stood on one side of schule wearing 
their hats and prayer shawls. Prayer shawls 
are long black and white scarves made of 
silk, which they wear to cover up their 
clothes. They prayed in Hebrew, which 
Avrahm was learning to read in the Jewish 
school where he went after public school 
was over every afternoon. 

He got a little hungry during the praying, 
for he and his father were not allowed to 
eat anything in the morning of the Sabbath 
until after they had been to the schule. But 
when the head rabbi, or priest, read from the 
books of higher learning, called the Torah, 
Avrahm forgot that he was hungry. The 
words sounded very beautiful in the rich 
mellow voice of the rabbi. 

At home the family again assembled for 
dinner. Then began the long afternoon be¬ 
fore sundown came and the Sabbath was 
over. Avrahm went into his room for a 
while to try to make music on the little violin 



AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


255 


he had bought from a junk man. It had a 
very wheezy tone, but he liked to pick out 
the songs he knew. 

There was a little Russian song his grand¬ 
mother sang. When she heard Avrahm try¬ 
ing to play it, she bobbed her head in time 
to his music, her wrinkled face wreathed in 
smiles. Then he played a lively tune he often 
heard on the hurdy-gurdy and wound up 
with AMERICA, which were all the tunes he 
knew how to play. 

Then he and Sonya sat at the window in 
the little room which the family used as liv¬ 
ing and dining room. How quiet the streets 
were! No one was about. 

At last it was sundown. Then how the 
streets came alive! People came out of their 
houses where they had been so quiet. Push¬ 
carts piled high with all sorts of things to 
sell filled the narrow streets. Many of them 
had lights burning on them. Peddlers called 
their wares. There was loud talk and laugh¬ 
ing. 

Mother took her market bag on her arm 
and she and Sonya went down into the street 
to do the shopping. Grandmother moved her 
chair close to the window so that she could 




256 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


watch the excitement in the street below. 
Although, like most old Jewish women, she 
seldom went from her home, she was inter¬ 
ested in all that was going on. 

Father left the house to go back to his 
work at the tailor shop. The tailor was Jew¬ 
ish, too, so he closed his shop on the Sabbath 
but opened it again to take care of his cus¬ 
tomers on Saturday night. 

Avrahm ran down the stairs to the flat 
on the floor below, where his best friend, 
Benny, lived. 

“Hello, Benny,” he called, “let’s go down 
in the street.” 

“Okay,” answered Benny. And out they 
went. They were two happy boys having a 
good time on Saturday night. Each, with 
ten cents to spend in his pocket, was bound 
to get the most for his money. 

And oh, what things there were to choose 
from! Stands of candy wrapped in red and 
blue paper, side by side with great mounds of 
Russian halvah, a rich, delicious candy. Lit¬ 
tle cups of shelled nuts and poppy seeds. 
Barrels of red and green pickles. Fruits of 
all kinds piled on pushcarts in tempting 
arrays. 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


257 


In a bakery they bought the little cakes 
filled with cheese called Jcnishes, so dear to 
their hearts. An old man was peddling long 
pods from the locust tree called St. John’s 
bread. They looked like switches sticking 
out of the bag on his back, but they tasted 
sweet. After this, the boys bought hot chest¬ 
nuts roasted over red coals from the chest¬ 
nut vendor’s cart. Then, of course, they 
were thirsty, and stopped to buy a drink of 
soda pop. 

A great game of hide-and-seek was being 
organized by the boys in their block. 
Avrahm and Benny joined the game and 
went rushing up and down the street, weav¬ 
ing in and out of the traffic, racing up and 
down the fire escapes in front of the houses. 
Benny went so far as to hide under a push¬ 
cart filled with kitchen ware. When the 
peddler who owned the cart saw him, he 
yelled in Yiddish, “Get out of there, you 
child of a fiend!” 

Poor Benny! In his hurry, he upset the 
cart and the pots and pans went tumbling 
all over the street. “Clatter, clatter, bang, 
bang!” What a noise they made! A crowd 
gathered around the upset cart to laugh at 




258 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


the mishap. “Beat it!” cried Avrahm, and 
in the excitement, the two boys got away. 
“Police, police,” called the peddler and ran 
off after them shaking his fist. 

They ran as fast as they could and hid be¬ 
hind a couple of ash cans in a dark alley, 
until the peddler became discouraged and 
gave up trying to find them. 

“Has he gone?” whispered Benny. 

“Yes, I think so,” Avrahm answered. 

“Gee, let’s go home,” said Benny. So they 
crept quietly out of their hiding place. They 
went home a roundabout way, keeping a 
lookout for the angry peddler. How glad 
they were when they were safely in the 
house that night. 

Next day was Sunday which was like an 
American boy’s Saturday to Avrahm and 
Benny. They had had their Sabbath, so Sun¬ 
day was a holiday. Benny had found an old 
roller skate, and Avrahm had discovered 
some old planks in a junk pile, so the two 
boys decided to make a scooter. 

They worked all morning in the paved 
courtyard which separated their house from 
the building in the next street. After they 
had finished it, they took turns trying out 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


259 


their own home-made “automobile” until 
Avrahm’s mother called him in for his lunch. 

After lunch he had to go to Cheddar. Ched¬ 
dar was the name for the Jewish school 
where Avrahm and the other boys went for 
two hours every afternoon except on the 
Sabbath. There they learned the Hebrew 
alphabet and to read the Kumish, which is 
the Hebrew bible. They met in a basement 
room and sat at a long table. The rabbi who 
taught them had a long black beard and a 
little black skull cap on his head. 

Most of the time Avrahm liked cheddar, 
for he was ambitious to be able to read the 
Kumish as beautifully as the rabbi at the 
schule. Sometimes though, he wished he 
could be as free as his American friends who 
did not have to go to a Jewish school after 
their regular lessons were over. 

On Monday morning, Avrahm and Sonya 
behaved like other little Americans. They 
got up early, ate their breakfast and started 
off to the public school. Most of their school¬ 
mates at the big stone school house were 
Jews like themselves, although their parents 
had come from different lands—Poland and 
Hungary and Germany as well as Russia. 




260 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Avrahm got along very well in his stud¬ 
ies, but sometimes he had trouble in remem¬ 
bering the rules. Some things at school were 
quite different from what he was taught at 
home and at cheddar. It was hard, for in¬ 
stance, to remember that at school it was 
the year 1935, and at cheddar it was the 
year 5695. 

One thing, though, he would never forget 
—when he talked to an American teacher he 
must remove his hat to show respect, but 
when he went to schule, he must keep on his 
hat to show respect. Is it any wonder the 
poor boy got mixed up? 

When school was out at three o’clock, 
Avrahm went to cheddar, while Sonya went 
to the big Settlement house in the neighbor¬ 
hood. There were so many interesting things 
to do at the Settlement, and she had joined 
several clubs there. She was almost as am¬ 
bitious as big brother Avrahm, but in dif¬ 
ferent ways. 

For instance on Monday, while he was 
learning to say Hebrew words at cheddar, 
Sonya was learning to dance. She belonged 
to a sewing class and a modelling class, too, 
and sometimes she took part when the Set- 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


261 


tlement classes gave little plays. She used 
to tell Avrahm about the wonders of the 
Settlement, but he refused to go. He 
thought the things they did there were just 
for girls. 

One day Sonya came home from the Set¬ 
tlement in great excitement. “I bet you 
wish you belonged to the Settlement now,” 
she said to Avrahm. 

“Oh, you and your old Settlement,” said 
Avrahm in a scornful tone. 

“Well, a great big violinist is going to 
give a concert there tomorrow night. All the 
Settlement kids can go for nothing, but other 
people have to pay.” 

“What’s he going to play there for?” 
Avrahm wanted to know. 

“The teacher says that’s where he first 
learned to play when he was a kid,” Sonya 
explained. “She says he is going to play so 
as to show the Settlement kids how good the 
teachers were to him when he was little.” 

At last Avrahm wanted to go to the Settle¬ 
ment. “Oh, Mother, may I go?” asked 
Avrahm. He begged so hard that Mother 
decided to go herself and take him as well 
as Sonya. 




262 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


Avrahm had never heard anything so 
wonderful as the music the young man made 
on his violin. He changed his mind about 
the Settlement then and there. While other 
children in the audience clapped, Avrahm sat 
very still. It seemed too wonderful to him. 
He was quiet all the way home. Sonya 
thought he hadn’t liked the music. But his 
mother knew him better. She knew that it 
was because Avrahm had liked the music so 
well that he could find nothing to say. 

When they got home they found Grand¬ 
mother and Father talking quietly together. 
On the table a strange candle set in a tum¬ 
bler was burning. Then Avrahm remem¬ 
bered what day this was and knew why his 
father and grandmother seemed so solemn. 
It was the anniversary of the day his grand¬ 
father had died, and the candle was the 
yorchit, or anniversary candle which was 
burning for the soul of his grandfather. 

Mother told of the beautiful music they 
had heard and how the people cheered the 
young man when he had finished playing. 

“How did you like the music, Avrahm?” 
Father asked. 

Avrahm could not answer at first, al- 



AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


263 


though his eyes were very bright. Then he 
said, “I’d rather play a fiddle like that than 
do anything else in the world.” 

Father and Grandmother smiled knowing¬ 
ly at each other. “I am glad you feel that 
way, Avrahm,” said Father, “for Grand¬ 
mother and I have something to say to you. 
Your grandfather had a fine old violin which 
Grandmother brought over to this country 
long ago. You are your grandfather’s name¬ 
sake, and she wants you to have it to play 
on. We had meant to wait until you are a 
little older, perhaps when you are confirmed. 
But that time is three years away, and you 
would lose valuable time.” 

“We have been listening to you play that 
cheap little fiddle you bought for yourself,” 
Father went on, “and we think you can play 
well enough to have a better violin. We 
wouldn’t give this to you if you were a lazy 
boy, but the rabbi at cheddar says you study 
well and are learning your Kumish. Your 
report card from the public school is good. 
As this is the anniversary of the day your 
grandfather died (God rest his soul), your 
grandmother wants to give you the violin. 
Mother and I will try to find money enough 




264 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


so you can learn how to play it at the Settle¬ 
ment house.” 

Then Father got down a battered old fid¬ 
dle case from the shelf and opened it. Very 
lovingly he handed to his son the beautiful 
old instrument that had lain silent for so 
many years. Avrahm’s eyes filled with tears 
of happiness, but he couldn’t say a word. 
He tuned it, and placed the violin under his 
chin. Then he played Grandmother’s little 
song for all he was worth. How different it 
sounded. Grandmother held out her arms 
and Avrahm was not ashamed to hug her. 

Then what full days followed for Avrahm! 
School, cheddar and music. Once a week 
came his dearly loved violin lesson at the 
Settlement, but every day he practiced. He 
was very proud of the fine violin and was 
determined to play beautifully on it. 

One day after his lesson, he stopped to 
watch a game of basket ball at the Settle¬ 
ment. The boys who were playing were 
about the same age as himself. They were 
having a great deal of fun. His teacher, 
unknown to Avrahm, was standing there 
beside him. When one of the boys tossed 
the ball in the basket, Avrahm’s teacher 



AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


265 


called down, “Good work!” Avrahm looked 
around in surprise. “Good work” was what 
the teacher said to him when he played a 
hard piece of music very well, and this was 
only play! 

“Is that good work, too?” asked Avrahm. 

“Indeed it is, Avrahm,” answered the 
teacher kindly. “It is just as important that 
you have a strong, healthy body as it is that 
you play the violin well, or learn your He¬ 
brew lesson well, or get good marks at 
school. You see, Avrahm, if you are strong 
and well you will be able to do all these oth¬ 
er things better, too.” 

So, very shortly after that, Avrahm joined 
the gym class, too. On Friday afternoons, 
when he didn’t go to cheddar, he went to the 
Settlement house to play in the gymnasium. 

It was getting near the end of school and 
Avrahm was looking forward to the long 
summer vacation. He had many things to 
do to keep him busy and he would have more 
time to devote to his violin. 

On the last day of school the children in 
Avrahm’s class gave a little play in the as¬ 
sembly which they had written from a story 
their teacher had read to them. The story 



266 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


told of the people from many different coun¬ 
tries all over the world who had come to 
settle on the continent of America. Some 
of the people the story told about were Rus¬ 
sians who had come here just about the 
same time that Avrahm’s grandparents had 
come. 

He wondered why they had decided to 
come to America. That evening, when he 
was alone with his mother he asked her 
about it. 

“Mother/’ he said, “why did my grand¬ 
parents come to America?” 

Avrahm’s mother put down the mending 
she was doing. “We came to make a new 
home here,” she said. “It was hard for poor 
people in Russia to make a living. My par¬ 
ents were very poor and often when I was 
a child I did not have enough to eat. So my 
father decided that we should come to the 
New World where all were treated equal and 
everyone could make a living.” 

“How old were you, Mother?” asked 
Avrahm. 

“I was about your age, just ten, when we 
left Russia. That was a year when many 
poor people from all over Europe came to 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


267 


the great land of America. We were crowd¬ 
ed into the steerage of a big ship.” 

“Were there people from other countries 
besides Russia on the ship too, Mother?” 

“Yes indeed,” answered Mother. “From 
many other countries besides Russia. Our 
boat stopped at other ports and people in 
strange clothes talking languages we could 
not understand got on our boat and trav¬ 
eled across the ocean with us. I know we 
seemed as strange to them as they did to us, 
but we all had one thing in common—we all 
were looking forward to the New World.” 

“Of course some people were very sick on 
the trip,” Mother went on. “But I loved the 
sea, and thought all the time of the beauti¬ 
ful country I should find at the other end 
of the journey.” 

“Oh, Avrahm, my son, I shall never forget 
the first sight of the towers of the buildings 
when we sailed up the harbor. But first we 
were taken to Ellis Island where we were all 
examined by doctors to see if we were well. 
It would not be right to let sick people into 
the country. Also we had to have some mem¬ 
ber of our family here who would look after 
us until we were settled.” 




268 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


“Who came for you, Mother?” asked 
Avrahm. 

“Your great-uncle, who was my father’s 
brother. He had come to America long be¬ 
fore and he came out to meet us. He looked 
very queer to us in his American clothes. 
We were all dressed in our old country gar¬ 
ments with our belongings tied up in bun¬ 
dles and with shawls over our heads.” 

“Shawls like Grandmother wears now?” 

“Yes, dear. It was all very strange and 
confusing to us, for we did not know the 
language and could not understand what 
anyone said. We thought the officials at the 
customs house were Cossacks, as we called 
Russian soldiers.” 

“Were you scared of them?” Avrahm 
wanted to know. 

“We were at first,” answered Mother. “But 
when we passed the great statue in the har¬ 
bor that means Liberty we all wept because 
we were so glad to come to this free land.” 

“Is the statue still there, Mother?” 

“Tch, tch, think of a great boy of ten not 
knowing about the Statue of Liberty. Of 
course it is still there.” 

“Oh, Mother, may I go and see it?” 




What a beautiful city it was! 












































































AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


271 


“Yes, my son, if your father is willing, 
you and Sonya and I will go on Sunday to 
see it. They say we can climb up inside the 
statue and look out under the crown on the 
statue’s head.” 

“Oh, Mother, you are fooling,” said 
Avrahm. “No statue is as big as that.” 

Mother laughed. “Wait and see, my son, 
she said. 

So, on Sunday morning, the family dressed 
in their best for the excursion. Sonya had 
a new dress for the occasion and Avrahm 
a new shirt. “Wear them in good health,” 
Grandmother said, pointing to the clothes. 
That saying is a little good luck wish which 
Jewish people make over any new garment. 

They said good-bye to Grandmother who 
did not wish to take the trip. Then they 
took a street car down to the Battery, where 
they could see the boats of all kinds—tugs 
and ferries and a few steamers—going back 
and forth in the harbor. 

Away off against the horizon they saw the 
statue dimly. They took a little boat which 
went back and forth from Manhattan to 
Bedloe’s Island where the statue stood. 
Avrahm and Sonya stood at the prow of the 




272 YOUNG AMERICANS FROM MANY LANDS 


ship and watched the statue grow larger and 
larger as they came nearer to her. How tall 
and straight she looked, with her torch held 
high in her right hand! 

The sight almost took Avrahm’s breath 
away, and so he understood how his Mother 
must have felt when she was a little girl and 
saw the statue. 

When the steamer stopped at Bedloe’s 
Island, the family got out and walked inside 
the great figure. At the top, just under the 
spikes of the crown, was a little balcony. 
Avrahm peered through the windows and 
watched the boats go by. When he had 
looked to his heart’s content, they all clam¬ 
bered down and walked around the outside. 
How huge she was! 

Then the little steamer hooted a warning 
that it was about ready to return to New 
York, and the family got aboard. 

Avrahm and Sonya looked at the great 
buildings of New York whose towers seemed 
to be almost touching the sky. What a beau¬ 
tiful city it was! They had never really seen 
New York before—only some of the streets 
where they played and went to and from 
school. Now they saw it as a great picture. 




AVRAHM OF THE EAST SIDE 


273 


It looked so fine they were glad it was their 
city. 

Avrahm turned to his mother with shin¬ 
ing eyes. “Did it look as beautiful to you 
when you first saw it?” he asked. 

Mother smiled. “Yes, my son. And it made 
me very happy. Do you know why?” 

“I think so, Mother,” Avrahm answered. 
“You were glad because you were going to 
be an American.” 











































































































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